TlBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Shelf ..<k4R 



UNITED STATES OP AMEKIOA. 



LAMENESS OF HORSES 



—AND— 



DISEASES OF/THE L0C0M0T0RY APPARATUS 



A. LIAUTARD M.D.V.M. 

Professor of Anatomy, Operative Surgery and Sanitary 

Medicine to the American Veterinary College, Honorary 

Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgery 

(London), Foreign Corresponding Member of the 

Soci&e* Centrale de Medecine V^terinaire 

(Paris), Honorary Member of the Soci£te* 

V£terinaire d'Alsace Lorraine, 

Etc., Etc. 



Author of " Vade Mecum of Equine Anatomy," "How to Tell 

the Age of Domestic Animals," " Animal Castration;' 

Translator of " Zundel on Diseases of the 

Horse's Foot" 




Copyright, 1888. 



if j 3 



BRIGHT 



v i*?«; 







NEW YORK: 

WILLIAM R. JENKINS, 
VETERINARY PUBLISHER & BOOKSELLER, 
851 and 853 Sixth Avenue, 
1888. 






- 



PREFACE. 



The material which forms the substance of the present 
volume has been for some time in a state of preparation, but 
its final arrangement in a suitable form for presentation to the 
public has been delayed by reason of the author's hesitation in 
determining affirmatively and definitely the question of the need 
and the demand, in veterinary circles, for such a work. But 
a careful consideration of the subject, with a full and apprecia- 
tive knowledge of the scope and character of the authorities, 
to be found in our English veterinary literature, in the same 
range of subjects, has satisfied him that a new collation of 
accumulated facts and established views, supplemented by such 
original suggestions as have appeared to him to be pertinent 
and important, brought together in an orderly arrangement and 
a compact form, in a single volume, moderate in bulk and easy 
of reference, could scarcely fail to find at once a place, a use 
and a welcome. 

With the exception of the ever admirable work which we 
possess in the two volumes of Percivall, there has been of late 
but little added to the literature of the lameness of the horse. 
Gamges confines himself mostly to the subject of shoeing, and 
other contemporary writers have quite failed to assign a com- 
mensurate place to so important a branch of veterinary science 
as the pathology of the locomotive organs of the horse. 

The author has therefore judged that though a further 
consideration of the subject may not be necessary in order to 
supply an absolute "felt need;" and though the present work 
may not startle the reader with the announcement of surprising 
discoveries of fact and remarkable novelties of theory ; yet as a 
contribution of comparatively recent discoveries and a help to a 
further practical discussion of an important topic, it would none 
the less find a place on the shelves and in the regards of the 



6 P&EFAOB. 

advanced veterinarian, and emonstrate its own value among 
other permanent records of experience and opinion. 

In addition to his own notes of practice, his reminiscences 
of a large experience, and many years of careful and close 
observation, he has drawn freely for his material upon con- 
temporary English and continental authorities. The reader 
will therefore be quite apt to become moderately familiar with 
the names of Percivall, Williams, Bouley, Zundel, and others — 
all of them good men to know, however, with valuable informa- 
tion to communicate to the reader, to practitioners and to 
students. 



We tender our acknowledgements to Dr D. G. Dixon, (D.V.S.) 
for the care and patience he has devoted to the correction of the 
first proofs of the work, and to Dr. H. D. Holt, (M.D.) of Jersey 
City, for his aid in the review and revision of the rough notes 
of the original manuscript. 

We submit our work with a cherished assurance of a kind 
reception and friendly judgment from our readers, and with 
the hope that it may not fail to accomplish the purpose which 
has been our motive in its preparation, by contributing to 
The Improvement of American Veterinary Literature. 

THE AUTHOR. 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES 



CHAPTEK I. 

DESCRIPTIVE DEFINITION— SYNONYM— IT3 IMPORTANCE. 

A comprehensive definition of Lameness (or Clau- 
dication) would describe it as an irregularity or defect 
in the function of locomotion, affecting either a 
single one or several of the extremities, and proceed- 
ing variously, from congenital imperfection, from 
disease, or from external, accidental causes, such as 
wounds, or other temporary and occasional casual- 
ties. 

The general condition involves the inability of the 
patient, greater or less according to the degree of 
the ailment, to sustain weights, as in fractures or 
dislocations of the bones ; a loss of muscular power 
as in atrophy or paralysis ; the effect of pain 
consequent on disease or injury, such as special 
lesions of the muscular and nervous structures, 
including punctured or other wounds of the ex- 
tremities, or the imbedding of stones or other 



8 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

hard substances in the foot, and "picking up" 
nails. Or, as occasionally occurs, it may be referred 
to an inequality, congenital or otherwise, in the 
length of the limbs, even when due to an accident 
not more serious than the loss of a shoe. 

Lameness is therefore, not so much an original 
evil, or disease per se, as it is a symptom and mani- 
festation of some antecedent vital physical lesion, 
either isolated or complicated, affecting one or 
several parts of the locomotive apparatus. 

In estimating the importance of this subject we 
have but to consider that the value of the horse to 
his human owner must be measured wholly by his 
ability to exercise his powers as an agent of trans- 
portation, in the traction of burdens, and in bearing 
his master's person in travel or for pleasure. It 
becomes then at once apparent that his capacity for 
usefulness consists wholly in the condition, as to 
efficiency, of his apparatus of locomotion, and his 
power and will to use it. The idea of a good horse 
with poor legs is a misnomer; the legs are the 
essence of the horse, and every other part of the 
equine machine is of only subservient and tributary 
importance. 

The treatment of lameness necessarily, therefore, 
occupies a large portion of the field of veterinary 
surgery, not only on account of the economic reasons 



LAMENESS ON HORSES 9 

which urge the prompt restoration of a disabled 
servant to his working capacity, but as well, also, 
because of the frequent difficulties of diagnosis, and 
the not uncommon occurrence of cases which persist 
in proving refractory to treatment. 

Varieties of Lameness. 

In Bouley's classification of the varieties of lame- 
ness, he defines six species, having respect severally 
to (first) the organ or tissue of the lesion of which 
it is a symptom ; (second) the region or locality 
involved ; (third) the duration of the case ; (fourth) 
its peculiar type ; (fifth) the degree of severity ; and 
(sixth) the special nature of the attack. 

A tabulated arrangement of this classification 
would assume the form following : 

1.— Organs or Tissue, and how affected.— Muscular lesions; rup- 
ture of tendons; luxations ; sprains ; exostosis ; thickening 
of tendons ; neuroma ; neuritis ; synovial dilatation : 
corns; punctured wounds etc., etc. 

2 — Region.— Foot; shoulder; hip; stifle; fetlock lameness, etc. 

3. —Duration. — Recent or acute; chronic. 

±— Type.— Continued; warm intermittent or cold intermittent. 

5.— Degree.— Soreness of the animal ; lameness ; lameness on 
three legs. 

6.— Special nature.— Essential : sprains, luxations, bruises, etc. 
Symptomatic: of farcy, of glanders, of hepatitis, of 
pneumonia, etc, 



10 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

Etiology. 

The causes of lameness can be best considered by 
comprehending them under the two general terms 
of predisposing and occasional. 

It would be useless to attempt the enumeration of 
all of them in detail. 

The predisposing causes may be divided into the 
following six varieties : 

(1) The Condition of the Extremity. — The limb may 
exhibit a lack of power, simply from a defect in the 
sources of energy, inherent and undiscoverable, or 
there may be an irregularity in the conformation of 
the parts and in the method of standing. In some 
of these instances there may be a deficiency in the 
size of the bones, which may be relatively weak in 
respect to the weight and bulk of the body they are 
required to sustain. This fact may also constitute 
the solution of the phenomenon in the case of those 
animals whose symmetry of motion and ease of 
posture are marred by sprung knees or knuckled 
fetlocks, or whose hoofs are badly shaped and who 
travel awkwardly on weak and deformed feet. 

(2.) The Kind of Work. — Peculiarities attending 
the service exacted from an animal, and the conse- 
quent excessive and partial strain which may fall to 
the share of certain muscles arc prominent among 



LAMENESS OP HOUSES 11 

the producing causes of lameness. Tims the hunter 
will be subjected to injurious strains arising from 
his violent efforts in leaping fences and ditches, and 
bruises and shocks from the more or less frequent 
falls which he is liable to encounter. The heavy 
draught horse must also incur frequent hurts from 
the oscillation of overladen wagons or trucks over 
rough and irregular roadways as he is jerked and 
shaken by passage over ruts and cavities, or strained 
by his desperate exertions in the extrication of a 
mired vehicle. And every one must be aware that 
the violence and the excitements of the life of a "high 
mettled racer" curtails the longevity of the abused 
creature to a few brief and exhausting seasons, and 
limits his existence and his glory to some poor half 
dozen years of spasmodic struggle and wearing 
effort, 

(3.) Conditions of the Roads. — This element of the 
case, partially referred to under the preceding head, 
has a close connection with our subject, forming 
perhaps the chief factor in the estimate of the acci- 
dental and dramatic varieties of lameness. The 
nature of the surface upon which his hoofs must 
constantly and forcibly impinge cannot certainly be 
less contributive than other causes to the condition 
for better or for worse of a horse's feet and legs. 
This finds ample illustration in the excessive pre- 



12 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

valence of lameness among tlie private road-horses 
so frequently " speeded" over the hard city pave- 
ments, as well as among the laboring beasts which 
haul the inhumanly loaded trucks and carts over the 
rough and worn cobble-stone and other wretchedly 
contrived pavements of some of our cities. It is not 
difficult, in view of facts like these, to explain why 
the country horse, is in so much better condition 
in respect to his legs and feet than the city-worked 
animals, often even dispensing without risk, with 
the shoe of his city relation. 

(4) Immaturity of Age. — When an undeveloped 
colt, whose stamina is not yet established and consti- 
tution not yet confirmed, with tendons and ligaments 
relatively tender and weak, and bones scarcely out 
of the gristle, is unwisely condemned to hard 
labor, it is irrational to expect any other results 
than lesions of one or another portion of the abused 
apparatus of locomotion. They will be fortunate if 
they escape a fate still worse, and become sufferers 
from nothing worse than mere lameness. 

(5.) Shoeing.— Setting aside the traumatism to 
which the feet of the horse are exposed in the act 
of shoeing, as sometimes illustrated by the result of 
a burnt sole or puncture by a nail, there are still 
other conditions related to it, which it is proper to 
consider while examining into the causes of lame- 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 13 

ness. If they are carefully sought for, the culprit 
trouble will often be detected under the foot. At 
one time a shoe making uneven pressure on one 
part of the foot will reveal the truth of the matter 
In another case the shoe will have been suffered to 
remain too long on the hoof ; and again, the uneven 
paring of the foot by a careless farrier may sometimes 
be discovered only through the mischief it has 
wrought. 

(6.) Heredity. — The recorded instances of the trans- 
mission of diseased conditions capable of producing 
lameness by each of the parent animals in its own 
line are too numerous to allow the facts to be ignor- 
ed, establishing as they do, the law of heredity in 
the matter, quite beyond the reach of contradiction. 
The development of ring-bones and of spavins, of 
navicular disease, and of enlarged synovial bursas 
etc., in animals which had never been subjected to 
labor, is a circumstance too familiar to intelligent 
stock breeders to need proof. It is from the teach- 
ing of experience that it has become a point with 
them, while managing their breeding business to 
guard carefully against the perpetuation of bad 
blood in the stock they raise. 

As to the occasional causes of lameness, as we 
have intimated, they are practically, too numerous 
for specification. They comprehend every descrip- 



U LAMENESS OF EOiiSM 

tion of external violence upon any part of the ex- 
tremities, by whatever agency inflicted, (some of 
them already mentioned), whether kicks, blows, 
bruises ; injuries to the feet by stones or nails ; the 
burning of the sole by applying a shoe too hot ? 
while fitting it to the foot ; sprains ; injuries to the 
bones, and others practically innumerable. All these 
may become contributing agencies, and will be 
referred to in due order as we proceed to considei 
in detail each variety of lameness separately. 

Symptomatology and Diagnosis. 

The diagnosis of lameness involves three points 
of inquiry, to wit : {first) the identification of the 
lame leg ; (second) the seat, and (third) the nature of 
the lameness. 

(1.) The Designation of the Diseased Limb. — To 
determine this point the animal must be examined 
under three conditions, viz., while at rest ; while in 
motion, and while resting immediately after being 
exercised. 

While at rest, the leg will be held in such a posi- 
tion as to relieve it from the weight of the body, 
and will be favored in proportion to the severity of 
the pain caused by putting it to use. The fore leg 
will be carried forward, in the position of " point- 
ing," the leg being sometimes extended or half 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 15 

flexed, either at the knee or the fetlock joint. At 
other times it will be held up, or suspended, or 
hanging clown with the anterior face of the foot 
resting on the ground. 

When the hind leg is affected, it is either partly 
flexed and resting on the toe, or held up in abduc- 
tion or again partially or wholly held clear of 
the ground. At times, again, it may droop, the 
femur and tibia assuming a vertical direction, with 
the metatarsus extended on the hock, the limb 
resting on the anterior face of the wall and the 
phalanges. 

Of course, while a diseased limb withholds its 
support from the body, the remaining three must 
sustain the entire weight, and a change in the centre 
of gravity necessarily results. 

When two legs, either both of the fore or both of 
the hinder, are simultaneously afflicted, relief will 
be sought by resting the foot or leg of each side 
alternately, giving the longer period of relief to the 
tenderer limb if there is a difference, and by seeking 
by an instinctive movement so to change the centre 
of gravity as to cause the greater weight of the body 
to bear upon the sound extremities. As far as this 
ean be accomplished, when the fore legs are the 
sufferers, it is effected by bringing the hinder limbs 
as far as possible forward under the body, and 



16 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

elevating or throwing back the head ; or, when the 
infirmity is in the hinder parts, by setting the fore 
legs back under the body and extending the head 
forwards. The philosophy of these changes of pos- 
ture is obvious. 

When the pain producing the lameness is severe 
and acute, and there are sharp and lancinating pangs 
the fact will be shown, together with the movements 
already described, by a continuous motion of the 
legs, consisting of a swinging to and fro, or moving 
up and down, of the suffering member. The con- 
dition of the bedding, or even that of the shoe, 
should then be taken into account in the examination 
of the patient. 

The best time for examining a lame horse, is while 
he is in action. An attendant should lead him on a 
trot, preferably on hard ground, in a straight line, 
allowing him full freedom of his head, so that his 
movements may all be natural and unconstrained. 
The observations of the surgeon should be made 
from various points. He should place himself in 
front, on the sides, and behind the animal, and care- 
fully study the action of the limbs from each point. 
The mere act of walking is often insufficient to 
reveal the lameness satisfactorily, and the gallop is 
a most unfavorable gait, errors easily occurring 
while watching a patient undergoing that form of 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 17 

exercise. At times, discoveries may be best made 
by watching the horse when moved in a circle, being 
careful to reverse the direction, in order to compare 
the effect on either side, as the direction is changed. 
It is well to note the effect of the act of turning, 
when the suspected leg becomes a pivot for the 
movement. The point of lesion will sometimes in 
this way betray itself, when an ordinary direct for- 
ward movement would fail to reveal it. It is some- 
times advantageous to cause the patient to travel on 
a inclined plane, especially when the lameness is 
located in the anterior legs, by way of exaggerating 
the pain by the overbalance of the frame, and thus 
intensifying its manifestation. In some instances 
the trial should be made on soft ground, rather than 
on a hard road, in order to increase the necessity of 
muscular effort necessary for making way over that 
more difficult species of surface. 

The animal should always be unblanketed during 
an examination, and have nothing about him likely 
to interfere with the spontaneous movements and 
the unobstructed view of all parts of the body. The 
inspection of an animal while mounted and ridden 
is unreliable, and often misleading in its results. 

Many veterinarians examine their patients while 
they are kept under the restraint of a bridle. We 
prefer to have the animal held with a single halter, 



1$ Lameness of housed 

the attendant holding him on the left side, whiie 
keeping his right hand about one foot from the 
horse's head. 

The natural instinctive tendency of the suffering 
animal which will always prompt him to relieve the 
affected leg, will also always indicate the side on 
which the lameness exists, and a little watchfulness 
will always detect the effort of the patient to spare 
the weakened member from its equal duty, at the 
expense of its partner. In favoring the weak limb, 
it will be set on the ground more slowly and hesitat- 
ingly, and raised from it more quickly, and with a 
shorter forward movement than the other, and the 
percussion and pressure in setting it down will be 
modified by the apprehensions of the patient accord- 
ing to his experience of the pain it has before cost 
him to do so. Just the contrary will occur on the 
sound side. The foot will be planted more promptly 
on the ground and held there longer and more firmly, 
and with a steadier motion when it is raised again 
and thrown forward, while the weight of the body 
also will be thrown more unhesitatingly and heavily 
on the ground, from the yielding of the weakened 
side and its partial failure to assume its burden 
more promptly. 

When the fore leg is the lame one the movements 
of the foot and head occur somewhat in unison. 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 19 

When the laine foot is raised, the head is elevated, 
but only to fall when the sound leg is brought to a 
rest. 

If it is a hind leg which is the seat of trouble, 
the haunch settles downward when the sound leg 
touches the ground ; while at the same time the head 
is brought down when the diseased member is 
brought to a rest. In other words, the animal throivs 
the weight of his body upon the sound leg. These oscil- 
lations (or nodding) of the head and of the haunches 
are of great importance as points of observation, 
inasmuch as they simplify the solution of the pro- 
blem ; if the animal drops to the right side the lameness 
is on the left y and vice versa. 

This irregularity, or rather counterpoise of action 
is not only revealed to the eyes, but may easily be 
discerned by the sense of hearing, by reason of the 
greater resonance of the percussion of the sound foot 
as it strikes the ground— the lame foot being put 
down carefully and comparatively noiselessly. Pro- 
fessor Seweil, of London, and Professor Dick were 
quite familiar with this element of diagnosis, and 
Percivall remarks that : " It is, therefore, possible 
" for a blind man — and more possible, from the well 
" known acuteness of his faculties, for him, than for 
" a man who blinds or excludes himself from view of 
" the same horse — to say of what leg a horse goes 



20 LA31ENFSS OF HORSES. 

" lame, and afterwards to ascertain with the best of 
" judgment the seat and nature of the lameness." 

An animal may become lame in two of his limbs 
in several ways. Both of the anterior extremities 
may be affected, (the anterior biped) or both posterior 
(the posterior biped) ; or one anterior and one pos- 
terior on the same side, (the lateral biped) ; or one 
posterior and one anterior on opposite side, (the 
diagonal biped). The first and second varieties may 
be observed in cases of laminitis or of navicular 
diseases, and will be considered in another place. 
The lateral and diagonal biped forms are charac- 
terized by the united symptoms of the anterior and 
the posterior bipeds, but are much more developed 
by reason of the increased difficulty of locomotion. 

The diagnosis may be much aided by an examina- 
tion of the animal after he has undergone exercise. 
One which, while at rest and cool, stood firmly and 
squarely on his feet, may just after working point 
or rest his hind leg in a semi-flexed position, or in 
that of abduction. 

(2) Determination of the seat of disease. — This 
important and frequently difficult problem involves 
a large amount of consideration and the exercise of 
much tact on the part of the surgeon. One rule 
should be observed with strictness. The judgment 
of the surgeon, though in many instance he may 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 21 

obtain much assistance from the history of the case, 
must never wholly rely upon such a source for the 
data of a final and reliable verdict. His reliance 
must be the significance per se of symptoms such as 
we have described and such other signs and manifes- 
tations as his acumen and experience may enable 
him to discover. He cannot dispense with the study 
of the attitudes of the animal both at rest and during 
the act of locomotion, and the appearances during and 
subsequent to his exercise, nor reach a justifiable 
conclusion while overlooking the objective symptoms 
to be learned from a study of the implicated limb or 
limbs. 

In availing himself of the facts comprised in the 
history of the case, the essential points upon which 
he will rely for the assistance of his judgment will 
refer to the duration of the lameness from its first 
appearance ; whether its occurrence was coincident 
with any accident, such as a blow or a fall ; whether 
it followed a recent shoeing, and what had been its 
prevailing type, whether continued or periodical, 
warm or cold, or whatever else an intelligent and 
interested observer may have noticed. It may some- 
times happen that some apparently insignificant or 
trifling item may furnish a key which will at once 
unlock the truth. 

The posture of the animal while standing is a point 



22 LA3IENESS OF HOUSES. 

of great importance in its relation to the seat of the 
lameness. When, while "pointing," the animal 
rests his foot flat and firmly on the ground, it is 
evident that the ailment is not in that part of the 
leg, while knuckling at the fetlock will be suggestive 
of lesions at that joint or in the phalangeal region. 
Lesions of the stifle joint will also be indicated by 
the excessive extension of the hind leg backwards, 
with inability to perform the act of flexion. The 
presence of lancinating pains is often characteristic 
of suppuration within the horny walls. 

In inspecting the action of the animal for the 
identification of the lame member, very close atten- 
tion to minutise is necessary in order to discover at 
what point in the implicated limb the injury is 
located. As far as relates to the movements of 
various parts of the limb, while the leg may be 
carried in the manner before indicated, there will 
at the same time be something in the manner in 
which it is displaced, which will enable the surgeon 
to determine whether the cause lies in the upper or 
lower part of the extremity. In hurts of the upper 
regions of the limb the action will have less freedom 
and latitude than when the foot or the lower region 
is the seat of trouble. This greater or less latitude 
of motion will be understood by the experienced 
surgeon to be an important feature of the case. In 



LAMMESS OF HORSES. S3 

dislocation of the patella the leg is extended violently 
backward, with an entire disability of flexion. Para- 
lysis of the anterior femoral nerve, so frequently 
noticed among the sequelae of azoturia, and the 
peculiar appearance of the limb which has suffered 
from rupture of the flexor metatarsi, are also pheno- 
mena which must be studied during the movement of 
the patient, and are frequently sufficient by them- 
selves to furnish the materials of a correct diagnosis. 

Fortunately, besides those already mentioned, 
there are other means lying nearly or quite in the 
line of direct exploration, in the study of what may 
be denominated the objective symptoms, which in a 
majority of cases are, to the expert, a positive value 
by obviating any doubtful resort to surmise or 
hypothesis, and which may fully preserve him from 
the danger of making uncertain or erroneous deci- 
sions. A direct examination of this nature will often 
reveal the existence of positive symptoms by which 
the diagnosis will be at once transferred from the 
region of doubt to that of satisfying certainty. In 
one case it will be a ring bone ; in another a thickened 
tendon ; 01 a change in the direction of one of the 
bony levers ; or a deformity of the foot ; or an excess 
of action, or again, inability to act ; and so on almost 
indefinitely. 

The examination of a horse's leg for the discovery 



U LAMENESS OF BORSM. 

of the reason of his lameness can never be conducted 
with success, in any obscure case, without very close 
and careful attention to every detail and a full under- 
standing of all the possibilities of the case. It is 
often only by the most thorough examination of the 
entire affected region, from the upper to the lower 
parts of the leg that the changes of form, of consis- 
tency, of size, of sensibility, of temperature, or what- 
ever else may be the factors of the case, can be 
detected. The amount of pain betrayed upon pres- 
sure at a given point, or by the various movements 
to which the limb may be subjected ; the difference 
in size as ascertained by measurement ; the increase 
or diminution of the natural heat, as indicative of an 
accelerated or retarded circulation ; the pulsations of 
an artery in its passage over some given part of the 
leg — these are all to be numbered among the signs 
which in many cases become positive and symp- 
tomatic in assigning the location of the disease 
which finds its expression in the lameness. 

Independently of all these specifications, there is 
one point in the examination which must never be 
overlooked. The old adage, " if your horse is lame in 
the shoulder, take off his shoes," must have had 
experience for its parent, and derived its origin from 
a true knowledge of the importance of the careful 
examination ot the implicated member. 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 23 

Besides the fact that it is principally in the foot, 
especially the fore foot, that the cause of lameness 
is found to be lodged, and that to this the lameness 
of the entire corresponding limb is most commonly 
due, there is the fact, not to be overlooked, that 
lesions of that member are m many cases of com- 
paratively easy concealment, and moreover, that the 
lesions likely to occur as the result of the traum- 
atism of that member are often quite apt to assume 
a serious character, if not to end fatally. 

Young and inexperienced practitioners are quite 
too apt to commit the error of overlooking the ex- 
amination of the foot, looking upon it as a matter of 
secondary importance, and attending to it as a 
routine and formal affair only. It is a dangerous 
habit and may easily become an expensive error 
both to patient and practitioner. 

The veterinarian should attend personnally to 
the examination of the foot. Every step of the pro- 
cess should be supervised, including the removal of 
the shoe, the paring of the hoof, if necessary, the 
exploration with the nippers, the percusssion of the 
hammer, the inspection of the nails as they are 
drawn out ; and in short, every step of the black- 
smith's work should be watched ami noted, and the 
appearances and symptoms carefully weighed. He 
should never be influenced by the circumstance of a 



23 LAMENESS OP BOSSES. 

previous examination by a horse shoer, either to 
omit or to relax his through scrutiny of the case 
entrusted to him. It may be at times true that at a 
first examination no notable facts had been detected: 
the most minute search may have failed to expose 
any appearances which would justify the location of 
the trouble in the foot, and the same remark might 
be truthfully made in respect to the leg. Still, the 
crippled action may be of a kind characteristic of 
injury in the lower part of the limb. It is in this 
state of things that the examination of the foot is of 
special importance. The failure of the first attempt 
must not satisfy the surgeon as to the soundness of 
that region. A second, or even a third exploration 
should be made before a satisfactory conclusion can 
be reached. 

It cannot be denied that there are cases in prac- 
tice in which the most careful exploration results in 
essential failure. In these elusive instances resort 
must be had to the rational process, and the method 
of exclusion must be practiced. A satisfactory con- 
clusion will usually be the result with intelligent 
and experienced practitioners. 

(3.) The Nature of the Lameness. — The detection of 
the seat of lameness and the determination of its 
special characteristics are steps so nearly related 
that when the knowledge of one has been acquired 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 27 

the discovery of the other cannot be far off. For 
example, when upon examination of the patient the 
seat of the lameness is found to be in the foot, at 
the bars, or at the sides of the tendons, or of the 
metacarpal bones, or behind and above the knee, or 
the internal face of the hock, or at the stifle, etc. etc. 
the suggestion immediately follows that the cause 
will prove to be a corn, or a sprain, or a splint, or a 
carpal hydrarthrosis, or a spavin, or a hygroma of 
the stifle, etc. His result is the fruit of the expe- 
rience of the fact that the diseases named are 
usually found in the regions designated, and that 
moreover, it is from the special symptoms of the 
ailment more or less defined, that the location of 
their seat has been determined, and thus the two 
ideas of region and nature have become so intima- 
tely associated that they can no longer be isolated 
in the mind of the trained expert. 

Then, the seat of disease being known, the sug- 
gestion of its nature at once follows, and recipro- 
cally, when the nature of it has been discovered the 
seat of it becomes likewise known. Most commonly 
the determination of the nature of the diseases 
results from the study of the rational and objective 
symptoms of the part which is its seat. It is the 
most certain method of reaching a correct diagnosis, 
and should always be observed, if praticable. But 



28 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

in the absence of the objective signs, and when the 
surgeon has only the interpretation of the rational 
symptoms to aid his judgment, he can only succeed 
in fixing the seat of the disease by a consideration, 
of the nature of its cause through the mode by 
which its effects are manifested. For example, 
though the lameness caused by the obliteration of 
principal arteries of a leg is attended by no well 
marked material symptoms which demonstrate the 
lesion of the deeply seated vessels, concealed under 
the muscular masses, yet the series of the phe- 
nomena exhibited will enable the observer to con- 
ceive with certainty the true nature of the lesion, as 
well as positively to fix the seat of the trouble. 

This method of proceding is not followed by 
results of such absolute certainty as belong to the 
first, and it is also attended with greater difficulties 
of application, involving a laborious process of 
deduction and through acquaintance with the appa- 
ratus and physiology of locomotion. Still it also 
leads to valuable and important results, the more 
interesting from the partial absence and the imper- 
fection of the elements of positive diagnosis. It is 
to this that the progress achieved by the science of 
veterinary prognosis in recent years is due, and 
that the veterinary surgeon of the present time is so 
well able to define and descriminate among the spe- 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 29 

cifie characters and peculiar features (as for exemple 
cases like those of navicular disease, rupture of the 
flexor metatarsi, loss of power due to embolism, etc.) 
pertaining to the hitherto obscure subject of the 
general ailment of lameness. 

Treatment. 

The causes of lameness are so numerous and the 
diseases and accidents of which its different forms 
are the manifestations and effects are so varied that 
it would be an impossibility to establish absolute 
rules for their general treatment, and as the corres- 
ponding therapeutic means must necessarily be easy, 
according to each case as it presents itself, the study 
of the subject, in this direction, must be assigned 
to subsequent chapters, anticipating the subject 
somewhat, however, by some remarks in this place 
which will not be untimely or irrelevant, whenever 
uttered, upon a point of practice which must never 
be overlooked. 

"We refer to that portion of the treatment of lame- 
ness which may perhaps sometimes be considered 
as rather belonging to the negative than to the 
•positive features of the curative agencies, viz, rest, 
on time and inaction. If it is considered that by 
rest we refer to that period of time which elapses 
during the illness of a sick animal while he is sub- 



30 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

jected to certain topical applications, such as lotions, 
fomentations, caustics, blisters, etc., our remarks 
would seem to be, and would indeed be, of a super- 
fluous character. Though it is somewhat inverting 
the order of mention, we are but referring to that 
general supplemental inaction of the convalescent 
patient which is necessary for, the confirmation and 
establishment of the effect of all curative means. 
The rest we mean is that interval of quiet which 
experience and a knowledge of pathology has taught 
us to be necessary for securing the complete resto- 
ration of structure and consequent perfect (if pos- 
sible) return, from diseased to healthy conditions a 
process of recuperation necessary in equal measure 
to both man and beast under like circumstances. It 
too often occurs that an animal whose misfortune it 
is to be controlled by a cruel and ignorant or avari- 
cious owner, is returned to his work, after having 
been subjected to firing or blistering, almost before 
the removal of the visible marks of the treatment 
he has suffered, with the result, easily predicted, of 
the reappearance of the lameness, after a brief 
period of torture in the shafts or traces, when the 
whole of the trouble might have been avoided by 
allowing the debilitated convalescent a peaceful 
rest of three or four weeks, with judicious feeding 
and humane attention in other respects. Many a 



LAMENESS OF HORSES 31 

horse which had become lame with articular disease, 
has been restored to perfect soundness, after the 
failure of every variety of external treatment, by 
simple rustication in the country where he has been 
fortunate enough to be permitted to " have a good 
time" on the soft ground, and exemption from work. 
"We refer to this long rest, as an item in the general 
treatment of all lameness, as a point of great impor- 
tance, and while we do not wish to convey the 
impression that we consider it to be the only mode 
of treatment applicable to all forms of disease 
capable of producing irregularity of locomotion, we 
believe that in a greab proportion of cases the 
failure which has followed a proper and well applied 
treatment for the restoration of lame animals is 
simply due to the fact that sufficient rest has not 
been allowed to the animal for the local treatment 
to produce its effects, or for pathological lesions to 
undergo the necessary alterative action to secure 
the re-establishment of their lost former condition. 



CHAPTEE II. * 

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS RELATING TO THE DISEASES OF 
THE VARIOUS ORGANS OF LOCOMOTION. 

DISEASES OF BONES. 

PERIOSTITIS — OSTITIS — OSTEOMYELITIS. 

Under this title is to be understood the general 
subject of inflammation of the bones, under the 
various characters it assumes, having relation to the 
tissues more immediately affected, and including the 
bony substance proper, the investing membrane, or 
periosteum, and the enclosed medullary substance, 
or marrow. We have, therefore, to consider three 
ailments according to the tissue specially implicated 
to wit, ostitis proper ; periostitis, and osteomyelitis. 
The three affections exist in intimate relationship, 
originate in the same causes, and are usually inse- 
parable in the living animal, and amenable to the 
same course of treatment. 

Causes. — The development of ostitis is usually 
attributable to the operation of local causes, among 

* This chapter will include the consideration of such affections 
only as are directly connected with the leading subject of this 
work, i. e., Lameness. 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 33 

which may be specified bruises, wounds, fractures, 
long continued pressure, contact with foreign bodies, 
caustics, etc., and to these may be added inflam- 
mation of tissues surrounding the bones, of joints, 
and ligaments, of tendons, of the sequelse of fractures, 
amputations or trepaning. Its usual appearance 
may be looked for in bones which are situated super- 
ficially, owing to their greater exposure to external 
dangers. There are still other causes of a general 
character, of which an abnormal condition of nutri- 
tion, giving rise in the immature animal to rachitis, 
and in the mature to osteomalacia is one. Farcy, 
glanders, rheumatism, tuberculosis and actynomyco- 
sis also, belong to the category of general and consti- 
tutional causes of ostitis. And it cannot be doubted 
that the frequency of osteoporosis in America has 
brought the veterinarians of the United States into 
familiar acquaintance with the ostitis of horses 
affected with that disease. 

To repeat : ostitis may proceed from both internal 
and external causes, and may affect either the perios- 
teum, the bony tissue proper, or marrow, according 
to peculiarities of the case. 

Symjjtoms.— The characteristic pain of ostitis is 
usually dull and continuous, seated at times on the 
surface, and at times in the depth of the structure 
and it always gives rise to lameness. The region 



34 LA 31 EN ESS OF HORSES. 

corresponding to the seat of the attack participates 
in the disease, and becomes swollen, with an increase 
of temperature, and at times pain. The swelling is 
due to an increase of size in the inflamed bone, caused 
by the accelerated periostal secretion, or the tumefac- 
tion of the soft tissue surrounding, the periosteum 
itself, the cellular tissue, etc. When the surface of 
the bone is the seat of disease, the soreness, may be 
detected by pressure and the local increase of 
temperature will become palpable to the educated 
touch of the expert. 

Progress and Termination, — The progress of ostitis 
is seldom a rapid one. As a rule, the disease is 
slow in its course, and of a lengthened duration. Like 
others of the phlegmasia, it may have its termina- 
tion in resolution, or may settle into the chronic 
form, with its accompanying phenomena of altera- 
tions of the bony structure, as in ostitis deformans, 
and fragilitis osseum ; or, finally, in suppuration, in 
caries, in gangrene or necrosis. 

Prognosis. — The disease is always grave and serious 
in its aspect and effects, owing not only to the slow- 
ness of its progress and its tendency to frequent 
relapses, but to the more or less extensive suppura- 
tion which may accompany it, and the serious 
blemishes by which it may be followed. 

Treatment, — When the attack is due to local causes, 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 35 

good results may be expected from the antiphlo- 
gistic treatment, with cooling applications and ano- 
dynes. The most satisfactory course, however, will 
be the counter irritant, principally by blistering. 
As the disease progresses, with a tendency to be- 
come chronic, a resort to alteratives will be indicat- 
ed, with a preference for the iodine and mercurial 
preparations. But when it has reached the chronic 
stage reliance can be placed on the actual cautery 
alone. 

Exostosis. 

Among the diseases of the osseous structure which 
afflict our domestic animals, especially the horse, 
there is none more frequently encountered, or which 
more frequently baffles the skill of the veterinarian, 
as this form of bony redundancy. Its study 
therefore becomes, from a practical point of view, 
of paramount importance. Having its seat usually 
in close proximity to some one of the articulations, 
these exosseous projections become a sure cause of 
lameness, which as well as always resulting in a 
blemish of the appearance of the animal interfere 
with its powers of usefulness, by causing a partial if 
not an utter inability to labor, and a consequent 
deterioration if not a total loss of pecuniary value. 
On this account the question of location becomes an 



36 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

item of prime importance in the study of the case\ 
And to facilitate our knowledge of the subject, it 
may not be amiss to recall the various terms used 
in old hippiatry for the designation of the different 
regions of the body where the disorder resides. Thus 
we have spavins, splints, ring bones, side bones, etc. 
according as the various exostoses appear at the 
hock, in the metacarpal, metatarsal or phalangeal, or 
even the digital region. 

Symptoms. — In its ordinary form, an exostosis is 
accompanied by pain, more or less marked in its 
degree, with an elevation of temperature in the part 
affected. The pain is easily evidenced by the strug- 
gles of the patient to escape the manipulations of 
the surgeon while conducting his examination. The 
activity of the vital processes in the bone being less 
than of the softer structures, the phenomena of in- 
flammation are correspondingly less manifest than 
in other tissues, the inflammation is more tardy in 
the entirety of its progress, and it thus requires 
more time to reach the acute stage and it is there- 
fore more likely than in other cases to assume the 
chronic character. When a bone of one of the ex- 
tremities is affected, the lameness will supervene, 
during the first stage of the inflammation, irres- 
pective of the precise situation of the abnormal 
growth. This is perhaps accounted for by the pre- 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 27 

sence of the inflammatory process in the perios- 
teum. This being an inelastic and unexpansive 
membrane, the pressure of the tumefied parts, as 
with other fibrous structures becomes excessive 
upon the nervous tissue, and as there is no yielding, 
as with the softer parts, for the relief of the irritated 
nerves, the case becomes one of exquisite suffering. 
This pain is continuous, during the growth of the 
exostosis, and usually ceases only when the tumor 
has ceased to enlarge, but subsequently, the sur- 
rounding tissues being more or less irritated by its 
presence, its evolution is again started, and a fur- 
ther increase of size takes place. Intermediately, 
between these two periods the pain usually subsides, 
returning again however with the renewal of the 
growth of the tumor. "With the full development of 
the tumor, there should be cessation of pain, except 
under such special conditions as excessive labor, or 
the interference of the tumor with the movement of 
a joint or tendon, in which case the lameness and 
pain are no longer caused by the pathological con- 
dition of the exostosis, but by the obstruction 
of the mechanical act, and nothing more. 

A deeply seated exostosis, when covered by the 
soft parts, unless giving rise to visible phenomena, 
may not necessarily to detected. But when it in- 
terferes with the action of a muscle or ligament, or 



38 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

the course of the blood vessels, or the action of a 
nerve, or a joint, the result may then be various 
forms of lameness, which may be aggravated or 
diminished by exercise. 

Exostoses vary in form, size, number and situa- 
tion. They may vary from a sharp to a blunt pro- 
jection, more or less developed, or their surface may 
be rounded, smooth, or irregular ; or they may re- 
present styloid eminences, mo: e or less elongated; 
or they may form a large mass, sustained by a 
pedicle. They vary greatly in size, from very small 
to very large. At one time they will appear upon a 
bone singly, while at another, a number wi 1 be 
distributed along the length of a single bone. None 
of the bones are exempt from their presence, bat 
they are principally found, in hard working animals 
at the extremities of the long bones, and around the 
articulations. 

Progress and Termination. — One of their character- 
istics is slowness of growth. They require years 
to acquire their full dimensions, a fact well illustrated 
in cases of periostitis of the phalanges, were they 
cannot be recognized until an advanced stage of 
developement has been reached. 

They rarely terminate by resolution, their prevail- 
ing habit being the maintenance of a fixed form 
under the appearance of a bony exuberance quite 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 39 

Unamenable to removal by operative methods, but 
still subject occasionally to a resumption of growth 
and farther enlargement in size. 

Pathological Anatomy. — The varieties of the disease 
which most nearly concern us in our present discus- 
sion are the epiphysar, or periosteal, which are 
found usually between the bone and the periosteum 
and denominated by some writers, the osteophyte. 

The developement of the epiphysar variety bears 
a close analogy to the normal growth of the bone, 
the periosteum being in both cases the secreting 
organ and carrying forward the formation process by 
the same methods in both cases. We have thus, 
first the deposit of a cartilaginous substance, with the 
characters at first of ordinary plastic exudation, suc- 
ceeded by the depo3ite of the bony material proper, 
with a regular and progressive change from the 
plastic softness to osseous hardness, until the solid 
bone appears. The growth is at first detiched from 
the bone, or connected only by a layer of soft 
material, easily detachable by maceration, but in- 
creasing in consistency and adhesive quality until 
the union between the two tissues is perfected. 
There is an areolar appearance in the newly formed 
exostosis, but with time this is lost, and with it, any 
supposable difference in the substance of the normal 
and the redundant mass. 



40 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

Diagnosis. — The presence of this redundant mass 
is, naturally, not difficult of discovery and identifica- 
tion, especially when formed upon one of the super- 
ficial bones. This hard, resisting, fixed, uncompres- 
sible, adherent tumor, cannot be confounded with 
any other abnormality or lesion known to pathology 
or surgery. 

Prognosis. — There can be little room for a favorable 
prognosis, in other than exceptional cases, in a 
disease which so nearly involves the loss of the very 
qualities which confer upon the affected animal his 
essential value. Its least injurious result is a serious 
blemish or deformity of the patient, while it may 
easily cripple its usefulness even to the extent of 
producing total disability to labor, and the conse- 
quent entire destruction of his value as a laboring 
agent. The difficulty and rarity ol cures in exostosis 
are enhanced proportionately to the duration of the 
disease. 

Causes. — Any of the causes of periosteal irritation 
may produce this lesion. Bruises, falls, blows, 
exertions, sprains of the ligaments, premature work, 
excessive fatigue, etc., may be enumerated. And 
these causes will prove all the more productive as 
they coincide with the youth of affected animal. Many 
cases of the disease may be attributed to the last 
naaned cause, especially as they include those — and 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 41 

they form an important item of the category — of the 
young colts too early put in training for the exciting 
and excessive exertions of the racing tract. The 
effects of heredity are also credited with the develop- 
ment of a proportionate share of cases. 

Treatment— The treatment we have most to con- 
sider must be of a local kind, inasmuch as the 
development of lameness is a local effect pro- 
ceeding from local causes, as those of a physical 
and traumatic nature ; and the result of the expe- 
rience of observant practitioners confirms this 
theorical view. The means most generally in use 
are varied. Sedative and emollient applications are 
often of very material benefit, and there can be no 
doubt that in the first stages of inflammation, and 
when the periostitis has been arrested, great advan- 
tage has resulted from the use of water, both warm 
and cold, with similar topical means. Stimulating 
frictions and the various forms of counter irritation 
are strongly recommended, and among these a pro- 
minent place is assigned to the ordinary cantharidal 
blister. Besides these methods, resort has been had 
to that of alteratives, with results highly satisfying. 
Much benefit has followed the use of iodine with its 
compounds and combinations, especially in the treat- 
ment of cases of recent origin. The more energetic 
compounds of mercury, as corrosive sublimate, are 



42 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

of more questionable utility and more or less clanger 1 
attends their use. The less violent effects of iodine 
and simple mercurial ointment are more to be desired. 
Unguents having the red iodide of mercury for a 
base are in general use for exostoses of recent for- 
mation. Other caustics have sometimes been recom- 
mended, but the severity of their effects tends to 
bring their use into disfavor. 

A common resort m the treatment of exostosis is 
firing Gourdon, Zundel and others recommend its 
application in straight lines. But, supported in our 
wiew by Bouley, Bey, Leblanc and o fliers, we prefer 
the deep pointed method, in dots, introducing the 
iron through the skin, down to the periosteum, and 
even penetrating its structure. Needle firing, so 
called, or the penetrating deep cautherization, has 
given very satisfactory results ; and an advantage is 
gained for it in the fact that the operation may be 
repeatedly performed without causing any material 
blemish or disfigurement. 

The excision and ablation of exostosis has been 
recommended, and in cases occuring not in proxi- 
mity to the joints, into which the tumor is likely to 
extend, it is perhaps the indicated treatment. But 
from our experience in cases where the bones of the 
extremities are the diseased organs, and possibly 
when the exostosis occur in connection with the 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 43 

joints themselves, we do not feel justified in recom- 
mending the practice for general adoption. 

An operation originating with Professor Sewell, 
of London, and probably not sufficiently practised by 
veterinarians, is credited with many good results. It 
is that of periostotomy, and consists in the division 
of the periosteum covering the exostosis, in order to 
stimulate the process of resolution and check the 
abnormal growth. The incision of the periosteum is 
made with the periostome, a narrow, curved, blunt 
bistoury, with a strong blade, sharpened on its 
convex side. In performing the operation, an incision 
is first made, with a bistoury-lancet or scissors ad 
hoc, sufficient to admit the periostome, which is then 
carefully introduced under the skin, through the 
entire extent of the diseased part, until is is brought 
into contact with the thickened periosteum, and 
drawn over its entire surface, resulting in the divi- 
sion of the membrane. The operation is not ap- 
parently, sp cially painfull to the animal. If the 
case is one of long standing, a seton is passed under 
the skin, with a needle adapted to the purpose, and 
suffered to remain for several days. Sewell claimed 
that only a mild type of inflammation and a moderate 
degree of swelling followed the operation, which 
were readily subdued by cold water applications, 
with slight exercise, and that not more than from 



44 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

ten to fifteen days exemption from labor would be 
required. On that point, our experience agrees with 
that of Reynal, and has taught us that a high 
degree of inflammation may be present, with a con- 
siderable increase of the lameness, as the immediate 
effect of the operation. It has, however, in some 
special cases, produced excellent results, and may 
be recommended for application in exostosis of the 
metacarpal and metatarsal regions. 

DISEASES OF JOINTS. 

AKTHRITIS. 

The general name of athritis comprehends " any 
" disease whatever involving a joint, but more cor- 
11 rectly confined to articular inflammation. It is 
" also employed to designate inflammation of all the 
" structures forming a joint, as distinguished from 
" mere synovitis." This excellent definition which 
we borrow from the dictionary of Dr. R. Quam, serves 
our purpose precisely, by enabling us the more 
readily to select the points in the pathology of our 
subject which will best correspond with the design 
and scope of the present chapter. 

The diseases of the joints necessarily occupy a 
large space in the field of veterinary study and 
practice. This is on account of their frequency 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 45 

and the usually serious character of their lesions as 
they occur in all the domestic animals, but preemi- 
nently in the horse, by reason of the special nature 
of the services and employments exacted from him 
by his human master, and perhaps in some measure 
owing to the greater delicacy of his constitution 
combined with his more active vitality as compared 
with other members of the brute family. 

Lesions of the ligaments of the articulations are 
not of uncommon occurrence. They will receive our 
attention in another portion of this work, when we 
reach the special subject of sprains. Lacerations of 
these fibrous structures are the result of violent 
efforts, and though in some instances by no means 
easy of detection, they are at times accompanied by 
inflammatory manifestations of easy discovery ; but 
although they may form the initial point of the in- 
flammation of the joints, this, most commonly, first 
exists in the more inner regions of the articulations 
themselves. It is in this mode that the true arthritis 
occurs. 

Symptoms. — The first intimation of arthritis is 
pain/which rapidly increases in intensity and is soon 
followed by the other signs of inflammation, swelling 
and heat. This may be arrested or mitigated by 
refraining from the act of locomotion, or it may be 
relieved by so adjusting the attitude, while standing, 



46 LAMENESS OF HOL'SES. 

as to exempt the articular surfaces from the pressure 
to which they are naturally subject in the ordinary 
position. When the seat of the disease is a joint of 
one of the extremities, the position assumed by the 
affected region becomes quite characteristic. 

The changes which occur in the external form of 
the articulation are clearly indicative of its diseased 
condition. It then becomes the seat of a very warm 
swelling, oedematous at its circumference, but tense 
in the centre, with more or less fluctuation, and 
having an increased prominence at the point where 
the synovial capsule is less protected, and not un- 
commonly, there is a symptomatic swelling, more or 
less developed, in the parts of the limb situated 
below the diseased joint. This condition of simple 
arthritis is caused by a hypersecretion of the synovial 
substance by which not only is the articulation dis- 
tended to its utmost, but the bones themselves more 
or less separated from their anatomical connection. 
Some special forms of this disease are accompanied 
by certain physical signs common both to human 
and veterinary practice, though of less easy discovery 
in the latter. Among these is a peculiar sound of 
sensation, which may be discovered by moving the 
articular surfaces one upon the other. It is a 
peculiar soft crepitation, as if caused by clotted 
blood, or when of a rougher nature, by the friction of 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 47 

bony surfaces over which the cartilage has been 
destroyed. It is a noticeably peculiar condition, 
and is more commonly noticed in aged animals than 
in those younger. It belongs to the category of 
physical signs, and we have found it of great assis- 
tance in the diagnosis of obscure cases of lameness 
where a suspicion existed of lesions of articulating 
surfaces. It may be sought for by exciting the 
manifestation of pain by pushing or striking together 
the bony extremities. While the difficulty and the 
uncertainty of the results pertaining to this pro- 
cedure must be admitted, cases have not been 
wanting in which it has been adopted with advan- 
tage and success. 

Arthritis may exist with or without penetrating 
wounds. In the latter case the inflammation may 
. present some very serious aspects. The swelling of 
the part, at times, assumes enormous proportions, 
with great heat and excessive pain in the joint, and 
the progress of the suppurative process in that part 
is soon revealed by the appearance on the surface of 
a copious bloody synovial discharge. At this stage 
of the disease the influence of the morbid process 
upon the condition of the entire organism is made 
manifest by the appearance of unmistakable general 
symptoms. The anxious expression of the face, the 
nervous and hurried respiration, the loss of appetite, 



48 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

the hard accelerated pulse, the elevation of tempef- 
ature, and corresponding symptoms, all indicate the 
severity of the pain experienced by the suffering 
patient. Fearing to lie down, he maintains the 
standing posture as long as his ability continues, 
upon his three sound limbs, and when from pain and 
utter exhaustion he falls at last, he does not often 
rise again. 

Complications may always be anticipated during 
an attack of arthritis. Laminitis, tendinous inflam- 
mations in the opposite leg, purulent infection ; or 
even tetanic affections, may become the evil accom- 
paniments of this peculiar lesion of articulations. 

Pathological Anatomy. — In the inception of the 
disease, in arthritis, there is a simple hypercemia of 
the synovial membrane, with a change of color, a 
reddish tint, more or less marked, taking the place 
of the natural hue, the synovia itself becoming red- 
dened and injected with blood. At a later period, 
the membrane wears a dark and more uniform ap- 
pearance ; the underlying cellular tissue becomes 
infiltrated ; and an exudation of the plastic mass 
of false membranes, of a yellowish color appears on 
the surface of the serous membranes, or interposing 
between the bones. There is then an increased 
synovial secretion, much thickened in consistency, 
and the result is an established condition of chronic 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 49 

hydrarthrosis. The cartilages enveloping the bones 
now assume a red color, which is confined, however, 
to the surface. These cartilages also become them- 
selves the seat of ulceration and the articular surfaces 
become eroded, or disappear entirely from the bones 
which is their province to cover. 

Terminations. — Arthritis not unfrequently termin- 
ates in resolution. This occurs when the inflamma- 
tion has not been marked by features of undue 
severity, but in other cases, when the symptoms 
become more marked it may advance to the chronic 
form. But if the suppurative stage becomes estab- 
lished, the only result that can be anticipated is the 
peculiar lesion known as anchylosis. The chronic 
variety usually follows the non-traumatic type, and 
consists generally of the condition known as hydrar- 
throsis, which may, however, arise from other causes. 

Prognosis. — This is always serious according to the 
stage of the disease and its apparent force and per- 
sistency. 

Etiology. — The causes are various. Besides those 
of a true traumatic character, such as wounds, or 
lacerations of the tissues covering the joints, of 
whatever nature, the disease may be principally 
referred to violent contusions, bruises, violent efforts 
of locomotion, and excessive labor. Arthritis is often 
one of the sequelae of other diseases, or it may follow 



50 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

sympathetically the lesions of the serous membranes. 
It is noticed as following mammitis, metro-peritonitis, 
pleurisy, pneumonia ami pericarditis. In these latter 
instances, the rheumatic form supervenes, making its 
appearance in various parts of the body, but prin- 
cipally in the extremities. 

Treatment. — In the management of arthritis, two 
principal indications must be fulfilled. The mobility 
of the joint must be controlled, and the inflammation 
must be prevented, if possible, from reaching the 
suppurative stage. The realization of the first con- 
dition is not always a task of easy accomplishment, 
in veterinary practice, but still, by sufficient and 
skillfull bandaging and other artificial appliances, 
the movements of the animal, if not wholly prevented, 
may be reduced to the minimum. In combating the 
inflammation, resort must be had to cooling applica- 
tions, and among these, the ice bag should pro- 
bably have the preference. Nothing, however, pro- 
duces better results than constant irrigation. Strong 
liniments and vesicating topical lotions are very 
essential, aiding materially, by their counter-irritant 
effects, in overcoming the inflammation and prevent- 
ing, or reducing the synovial secretion. The use of 
anodyne and sedative remedies find their indication 
before blistering, when the inflammation is high and 
the suffering extreme. Warm baths and f omenta- 



LAMENESS OE HOUSES 51 

tions, as decoction of poppy heads, and camphorated 
ointments, combined with extract of belladonna, are 
also recommended. Mercurial frictions are stated 
to have been applied with advantage. When the 
disease has gained the suppurative stage, the indica- 
tion is to facilitate the escape of the pus by free open- 
ing and incisions. According to some authors, better 
results will be obtained by antiseptic aspirations. 
Added to this should be the free use of antiseptic 
dressings, with phenic acid, permanganate of potash, 
alcoholized water, or the tinctures of aloes, myrrh, or 
even of iodine — all have been recommended. The 
Egytiacum ointment is advocated as being of special 
efficacy, and even the actual cautery is commended as 
one of the most useful and effectual derivative means. 

SYNOVITIS. 

This is the title by which the inflammation of the 
synovial membrane is recognized. It is a condition 
frequently encountered, and sustains an intimate 
connection with the inflammation of the joints, or 
arthritis. It is to the excessive vital activity exer- 
cised by these peculiar membranes that their greater 
liability to inflammation than other surfaces is to be 
attributed — a liability which must be greatly en- 
hanced by the special character of their physiological 
functions. 



52 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

Articular /Synovitis is one of the lesions of arthritis, 
but though arising from the same causes is per se a 
less serious affection, and passes readily to the 
chronic state. It is then that it constitues the con- 
dition known as hydrarthrosis. 

Tendinous Synovitis, is a member of the same 
family, and when the sheath which is its seat, is in 
near proximity to an articulation, it becomes a some- 
what doubtful diagnosis as to its true nature. These 
two varieties of lesions are both of them possessed 
of the same pathological characters, present the 
same phenomena, and are amenable to the same 
treatment. 

HYDRARTHROSIS. 

This is a true articular dropsy, constituted by 
serous effusion in the articular cavities. The disease 
is identical with that which appears in the forma- 
tion of tendinous synovial sacs, the two forms being 
sometimes considered together, though Peuch and 
Toussaint make a distinction between them. 

They may be observed in all animals, but occur 
with greater frequency in horses, and especially in 
those of a lymphatic temperament. All the joints of 
the body are liable to their invasion, but they may 
be most commonly looked for in those of the extrem- 
ities, and principally in the articulations throughout 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 53 

tlie digital region, i. e. the knee, the fetlock and the 
foot. 

Symptoms. — It is manifested by the appearance of 
a tumor, situated over or near a joint, corresponding 
in form with the outlines of the synovial mem- 
brane, and varying in dimensions, according to the 
amount of its fluid contents. The bony symmetry of 
the joint is exchanged for a distended and enlarged 
appearance, though neither round or regular in 
shape, having depressions where the synovial mem- 
brane is covered by ligaments, and protrusions when 
it is covered by extensible structure alone. In 
articulations which communicate with the tendinous 
synovial sacs the tumor is of increased dimensions. 

These tumors, which are soft and fluctuating, are 
marked by a degree of heat upon the surface, and 
they are apt to be surrounded with more or less 
oedema of the cellular tissue, and though the pain 
may be slight, it may still cause lameness. As 
we have before observed, the acute stage is rapidly 
succeeded by the chronic, and though lameness 
always accompanies the former, the latter is usually 
exempt from that association, except when there is 
considerable dilatation of the capsule. The lame- 
ness in these cases, according to Rey, is due to the 
inability of the ligaments because of their relaxed 
condition, to prevent the displacement of the articular 



54 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

surfaces. Cases are recorded in human surgery in 
which the ligaments had entirely given way, and the 
consequent absence of restraint permitted a freedom 
of motion greatly exceeding that of the normal state. 
Although this must be of rare occurrence in animals, 
Lafosse has seen a case in a horse in which the 
relaxation of the ligaments in the coxo-femoral joint 
was so extreme as to permit the head of the femur 
to pass easily in and out of the acetabulum. 

Pathological Anatomy .- —The liquid usually con- 
tained in a hydrarthrosis is a transparent, citrine- 
colored, albuminous serosity, coagulable by heat. It 
is changed synovia. The inner face of the synovial 
membrane is sometimes covered with numerous 
small vascular projections, and again, the cavity is 
sometimes divided by fibrinous bands. The serous 
membrane is thickened and more adherent to the 
surrounding tissues, and loses a portion of its trans- 
parency. The ligaments and sub-synovial cellular 
tissue are usually intact, but in old cases may become 
thickened and indurated, and according to some 
writers, contain calcareous deposits, which give 
them a cartilaginous appearance. 

Progress — Duration — Terminations. — The accumu- 
lation in hydrarthosis is rapid, and twenty-four 
hours, in some cases, may suffice for the completion 
of the dropsical condition. But usually the rjrocess 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 55 

is more tardy, and in soma cases its developement 
is interrupted, and it seems to become stationary. 
In cases which are merely the result of overwork, it 
may disappear, without active interference, under 
the influence of rest alone ; and a moderate effusion 
from other causes, if of recent date may also some- 
times end in spontaneous recovery. But usually, 
once fairly established, it becomes persistent, with a 
constant liability to assume complications with other 
more or less serious articular disorders. The 
establishment of the chronic state, with a constantly 
increasing accumulation of fluid, is the usual termi- 
nation of the attack. 

Prognosis.— Considered independently, this disor- 
der, except when it has assumed unusually extensive 
dimensions, is not one of a serious character. But 
there are cases in which it constitutes an important 
blemish, and largely diminishes the value of the 
diseased animal, since, when largely developed, it is 
both an element and an evidence of weakness in the 
affected joint, and becomes a proof that the animal 
has been made a victim of abuse by being over- 
worked. It is all the less amenable to treatment 
when its appearance becomes the result, or betrays 
the existence of a defective constitution in the animal. 
The tendinous variety of the disease is less refractory 
to treatment than the articular. 



56 LAMEXESS OF HORSES. 

Causes.— Hydrarthrosis originates from both in- 
ternal and external causes. Those of an external, 
or traumatic kind may be specified as blows, violent 
efforts, overdriving and racing, luxations, sprains, 
and excessive work, and to these may be added 
sudden movements, repeated jumping and over- 
tasking the immature powers of colts with premature 
labors. It may also originate in an attack of arthri- 
tis, and is in fact, the chronic stage of that disease. 
The internal causes are more obscure in their 
character, and less easier to detect, but their presence 
is proved by their effects. Kheumatism ; exposure 
to cold and damp ; the sudden disappearance of an 
cedematous swelling, or of an eczematous eruption, 
of grease, or of a purulent discharge — allt hese have 
preceded the developement of a dropsical effusion in 
the joints. 

Treatment. — As with arthritis, acute hydrarthrosis 
is properly subject to treatment by antiphlogistic 
means, but in the view of some practitioners, vesi- 
cating agents are to be preferred to cooling applica- 
tions, or astringents. 

Chronic hydrarthrosis has also been treated by 
internal modes, and with benefit, when the cause has 
been of an internal nature. But external methods 
are largely the more reliable. In the category of 
local applications, frictions, massage and cold douches 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 57 

have been recommended, but they are palliative 
rather than curative. Alteratives are of very little 
effect. The recovery under blisters and blistering 
liniments are affirmed by many to have been always 
of a permanent character, while others assert that 
the lemoval of hydrarthrosis, when it has occurred 
by vesicatory means, has been but temporary, and 
that the disease has returned when the means of 
cure have been suspended, and the originating cause 
left to resume its activity. The preparations and 
compounds of iodine have their advocates, but the 
benefit which has resulted from their employment 
seems to have been realized only in cases in which 
the dropsical condition had been recent. It is when 
all these agents have proved their inefficiency that 
the actual cautery offers itself as the most, if not the 
only reliable remedy known to our experience in the 
treatment of the disease before us, and we are called 
upon to determine whether we have truly, as some 
affirm, found in that the real and unfailing indication 
we have sought for. It is called a heroic remedy, 
and it is doubtless truly so called. But that is 
scarcely a valid objection, if its energy is of a salutary 
kind. The most important objection alleged against 
it is that occurrence among its results of serious 
blemishes. And its absolute, invariable and infal- 
lible success cannot be affirmed. But it may be 



58 LAMENESS OF HORSES 

truly said of it that when its effects are favorable 
they are permanent — the disease is cured. 

There is a class of cases, principally including 
those in which the restoration of the patient to his 
working capacity is the principal consideration, and 
the presence of a moderate disfigurement of no great 
moment, in which, in our opinion, great advantage, 
would accrue to both the animal and the owner, 
from the use of the cautery at the beginning, im- 
mediately upon the subsidence of the acute symp- 
toms. We cannot concur with the recommendation, 
by certain English authors, of the use of the seton, 
or that of the French writers who have employed the 
method of galvano-puncture. 

The application of pressure has been followed by 
favorable results, but it is often difficult to arrange 
and regulate, and cannot be employed with sufficient 
method. Bandages of Indian rubber have been 
used. Plasters have been tried. And so have 
charges applied hot and secured by dry bandages. 

The simple puncture with the bistoury or trocar 
has had little curative effect, and is often followed 
by fatal inflammation of the joint. This is, however, 
of unfrequent occurrence, and may be obviated by 
the application of strong counter-irritants. To ob- 
viate the possibility of the entrance of air into the 
cavity, Hertwig directs that the puncturo bo made 



LAMENESS OE HOUSES. 50 

obliquely, or the introduction of the trocar under 
the skin for some distance, before perforating the 
synovial membrane. If any important or permanent 
advantage is likely to be secured by emptying the sac, 
the best and safest means of effecting the purpose 
would be by the method of aspiration. But from 
the fact that the cavity is so often multilocular, in 
consequence of its division by the pressure of the 
various bands which form the septums, the entire 
removal of the fluid becomes impossible, without 
such an amount of manipulation of the joint as would 
be certain to result in complications of the most 
serious character. 

All the forms of treatment referred to having been 
found to be insufficient to prevent frequent relapses, 
in consequence of their failure to effect the desired 
and necessary modification of the morbific vitality of 
the sac, the method of effecting this became an im- 
portant object of inquiry, and the suggestion was 
borrowed from humane surgery, of following the 
puncture of the sac with an injection of iodine — 
Leblanc, Sr., being the first to introduce this treat- 
ment into veterinary practice. It was supposed that 
the effect of the iodine would be such a modification 
of the diseased condition of the serous membrane as 
would excite in it an exudative inflammation which 
would be succeeded by the absorption of the exudat 



60 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

and the occlusion of the serous surface where it is 
least exposed to the gliding movement of the joint. 
This, however, is just the result which renders such 
a form of treatment useless, if not dangerous, when 
applied to a case of articular hydrarthrosis, though 
in tendinous dropsies it may fulfill a good purpose. 
Probably it has not yet been sufficiently tested. It 
is certainly of a less dangerous character here, 
except when there is a communication between the 
tendinous and articular hydrarthrosis. 

The free exposure of the sac by a large incision 
the introduction of the seton directly through the 
tumor ; the puncture of the enlargement with a deep 
pointed cautery ; the introduction of a sharp red-hot 
needle directly through the tumor — these are plans 
of treatment which may be discussed, but which 
cannot be recommended. 

HYGROMA. 

The effusion of either serous or purulent fluid in 
subcutaneous sacs, resulting from inflammatory 
action, whether acute or chronic, constitutes a hy- 
groma, although the term is principally employed to 
designate the dropsical condition of closed cavities. 

These cavities are usually of accidental origin, 
and vary in situation, according to the manner of 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 61 

employment of the animal and the consequent pres- 
sure or friction occasioned by the special contact or 
bearing of the harness he is accustomed to wear. 
Although their situation is usually just under the 
skin, they may be occasionally found in deeper 
structures, or they may be discovered at the poll, or 
the withers or in parts of the extremities. They are 
formed at the expense of the areola of the cellular 
tissues enlarged under the influence of continued 
friction, and continued to other surrounding, making 
the final form that of a cavity divided into septums 
by bands of partitions. Owing to this mode of 
formation, these serous sacs contain no special 
elements of composition. They adhere intimately to 
the surrounding connective tissue, or rather, are 
continuous with it. There is much variation in the 
thickness of their walls, and they differ also in 
respect to their age, the frequency and the conditions 
of their formation, and the amount of the fluid they 
contain. Their appearance may be that of a bloody 
or serous tumor, or an abscess, and not uncommonly, 
they change wholly in consistency, by the thickening 
of the wa Is and closure of the cavity, and become 
converted into large fibroma. 

Etiology. — External violence, whether suddenly 
inflicted or slow and continuous, is generally the 
cause. Bruises, pressure and repeated friction result 



62 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

in the acute variety, while the chronic disorder is 
oftener the effect of chafing by the harness, the rub- 
bing of the halter or bridle over the top, pressure of 
the saddle over the withers, or again, repeated fric- 
tions. 

Symptoms. — Characteristic of a hygroma, there is 
a softish tumor more or less movable, painless, of a 
globular, or oblong and irregular form, according to 
the anatomical configuration of the subcutaneous 
situation, or again a painful and fluctuating tumor. 
Its consistency varies with its age, the walls, which 
are at first thin and depressible, by increased thick- 
ness and consistency, are soon transformed into 
indurated tissues. 

The growth may be either continuous or intermit- 
tent. Sometimes they disappear by resolution, but 
usually, after attaining their proper dimensions, they 
remain stationary. Or they may resume their growth, 
after a period of inactivity, and increase until their 
bulk causes them to be obstructive to locomotion. 

Treatment. — Various indications attend the treat- 
ment of this species of tumors. A preventive treat- 
ment is first indicated, which consists simply in the 
studious avoidance of all bruises, frictions, undue 
pressure, or any violence over the regions where the 
sacs normally exist. This treatment often assumes 
so great a degree of importance that the success of 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. G3 

the distinctively curative measures will be wholly 
dependent upon its faithful and judicious application. 
These latter may be arranged under three heads, 
and comprise first, the resolution of the fluid; 
secondly, the obliteration of the cavity by the adhesion 
of its walls ; and thirdly, its extirpation. 

Under the first head, the consideration occurs of 
the application of all the usual absorbants, alteratives 
and counter irritants, all of which have been recom- 
mended ; with frictions of liniments, etc.; blisters, 
and mercurial inunctions. These have all been 
attended with varying success. Nocard strongly 
advocates actual cauterization in lines or in dots. 
Success has attended the treatment by methodical 
pressure where the form of the region permits it. 
Puncture is attended with only temporary advantage, 
in consequence ot the liability of the collection to 
return when the puncture heals. 

The puncture must be followed by the injection of 
irritating agents to secure the second condition, in 
the obliteration of the sac. Tincture of iodine, 
alcohol, perchloride of iron, and chloride of zinc are 
here indicated. The treatment is safe and harmless, 
and the suppuration which follows aids materially 
in entirely closing the cavity by the process of 
granulation, 

The third indication is present when the contents 



64 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

of the sac have become of a hard, fibrous consistency, 
and the walls have changed to a fibro-cartilaginous 
texture. It is then that the indication of extirpation 
presents itself, and becomes necessary to decide 
between the complete operation and the incomplete. 
This complete operation consists in the removal of 
the entire tumor, as it is sometimes found suspended 
at the end of a peduncle at the elbow. In the in- 
complete method, a portion only of the sac is re- 
moved, either by the cautery or the knife, for the 
purpose of preventing the closure of the cavity, and 
keeping the aperture open for the easier application 
of the dressings. 

WOUNDS OF JOINTS. 

Wounds of the articulations are classified simply 
by separating them into the two varieties of deep 
and superficial, not essentially varying from wounds 
in other parts of the body, except, principally, that 
when deep they may become complicated with 
suppurative arthritis. A subdivision distinguishes 
between the simple and complicated, the first term 
being applicable to cases in which the puncturing 
body has penetrated the capsular ligament, merely, 
while the latter term refers to cases in which the 
ligaments have been torn, the bone injured, or there 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 65 

is loss of substance, or the lodgement of foreign 
bodies in the wounds. 

Causes. — They may, of course, result from any 
cause capable of producing mechanical injury in any 
part, though as with every other region, necessarily 
subject to their own peculiar liabilities. Pricking 
with forks, kicks from other animals, falls upon 
rough or stony ground, attended with violent contact 
with sharp stones or other puncturing substances, 
are among the most common accidents likely 
to produce the traumatic effects in question. Yery 
deep cauterization often gives rise to extensive 
sloughing, which when loosened, permits the escape 
of synovia. 

Symptoms. — The direction and depth of the injury 
and the flow of synovia will at once betray the nature 
of the hurt, when there is penetration of the joint. 
After two days, the flow of synovia becomes quite 
abundant, the fluid, which is clear at first, soon 
changing to a yellow and thicker consistency, how- 
ever, until it coagulates and dries over the opening, 
which it closes, as with a plug. At times, notwith- 
standing the depth of the wound, there is no escape 
of fluid, in consequence of the closure of the orifice 
by the displacement of the skin or of a tendon. It 
is important to distinguish, in an escape of synovia, 
whether its source is a joint or a tendinous sheath, 



6G LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

the prognosis varying materially, according to the 
fact. The probe may discover the facts in the case, 
but great caution is necessary to avoid the abuse of 
that instrument, troublesome complications being 
sometimes consequent on its injudicious use. 

Articular wounds are not at first, specially pain- 
ful, and the symptoms are not apparently of an 
alarming character, owing to which circumstances 
they are too often slighted, and the animal kept at 
work after receiving the originating injuries. But in 
from two to four days the evidences of arthritis are 
made manifest, and all the symptoms of the sup- 
purative disease present themselves, accompanied 
by the fever of reaction more or less severe, with 
other phenomena belonging to disease of the joints, 
and the lameness becomes excessive and disabling. 

Prognosis. — From its tendency to readily assume 
the condition of arthritis, any articular wound may 
be considered dangerous, the introduction of air, the 
motion of the joint, injuries to the bone and the 
presence of a foreign body, all being conditions cal- 
culated to excite the suppurative process, and to 
justify the surgeon in his apprehension of a fatal 
ending. The immediate seat of the injury in a 
wound of a joint is a important factor in the progno- 
sis, the chances of recovery being greatly improved 
when perfect immobility can be secured. The result 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 67 

is also greatly influenced, adversely or favorably, by 
the greater or less complexity of the part, and the 
depth of the wound. 

Terminations. — The termination peculiar in the 
case of an exposed joint is anchylosis. The other 
terminations are those common to all traumatic 
lesions, and include cicatrization, suppuration, gan- 
grene and purulent infection. Under favoring cir- 
cumstances, and where the injury is properly cared 
for from its incipiency, and the inflammation can be 
kept under control, cicatrization may be secured in 
a few days. The most favorable termination of 
suppuration of the articular surfaces is anchylosis. 
When gangrene or purulent infection develop, there 
can of course be but one result. 

Treatment. — The main object in the treatment of 
exposed joints is the prevention of arthritis. To 
secure this object, three principal indications must 
be observed. As a preliminary step the wound must 
be freed from all foreign matters, if any are present, 
and thoroughly cleansed. It must then, first, be kept 
perfectly closed ; secondly, the immobility of the 
joint must be maintened as perfectly as is possible; 
and thirdly, the developement of synovitis must be 
prevented, if possible. 

To keep the wound completely closed is often 
only accomplished with difficulty. The suture may 



68 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

sometimes serve, but frequently fails. Pressure 
may be successfully applied, but is not applicable 
in every case. Adhesive appliances have been recom- 
mended, one of the best of these being collodion; 
another being a mixture of alum and albumen. 
Caustics are frequently used. Eabel water, tannic 
acid, and especially corrosive sublimate have their 
advocates. The last named acting, when favorably 
by coagulating the synovia and forming an eschar 
which closes and obliterates the fistulous tract. 
The application is made either in powder or in 
pencil form. The actual cautery, in various forms, 
and with different degrees of heat, is in favor with 
many. Perchloride of iron would also, doubtless, 
insure excellent results. But the best and safest of 
all topical remedies, and the most effectual in check- 
ing the flow of synovia and hastening the reparative 
process, as tested by Yerrier and confirmed by our 
own experience, is the Egyptiacum ointment. 

To secure the immobility of the joint is at times a 
task far from being easy of performance, as we have 
seen while considering the treatment of arthritis. 
"We have been accustomed in our practice, when 
bandaging has proved inefficient, as the next best 
method to secure the patient in a narrow stall and 
put him in slings. Although this restraint is scarcely 
sufficient to prevent an up and down movement of 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 69 

the legs, yet it is a relief to tlie animal, and keeps 
him quiet, and above all, it facilitates the application 
of the cold irrigation which, as our experience has 
taught us, is the very best mode of allaying the in- 
flammation and preventing the developement of 
arthritis. If withal, this complication persists in 
establishing itself, it must be dealt with according to 
indications elsewhere considered. 

DISEASES OF MUSCLES. 

The various forms of disorder to which the 
muscles are subject, will be considered under the 
following heads : 

First, Inflammation ; second, neurosis ; third, atro- 
phy ; fourth hypertrophy ; fifth; degeneration ; sixth, 
solution of continuity; and seventh, parasites, and 
neoplasms or foreign bodies. 

(1.) Myositis, or Inflammation of Muscles, not- 
withstanding the highly developed vitality of these 
organs, and the paramount importance of their 
functions in all animals, is comparatively a rare 
disease. Still, from the fact that when it occurs it is 
liable to become the cause of troublesome and even 
dangerous forms of lameness, it fills an important 
place in the field of veterinary study and practice. 

Symptoms. — Swelling and pain of the muscles, 



70 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

with accompanying difficulty of locomotion are the 
characteristic signs of myositis. Its progress is 
sometimes slow, sometimes rapid, and sometimes 
periodical. It begins with acute pain over the 
course of the affected muscle, which is increased by 
pressure, the slightest touch causing fear and shrink- 
ing. Motion of the part is diminished, or impossible 
and as the muscles are more or less retracted, there 
are corresponding peculiarities of movement and 
posture. The muscle is more or less tumefied and 
gives a feeling to the touch of a peculiar induration. 
There is more or less fever, anorexia and thirst, with 
disturbance of the circulation and of the respiration. 
Progress and Termination. — Its progress is usually 
slow, and it generally terminates by resolution, 
except when complicated with oedema under the 
abdomen or in the legs. It may pass into the 
chronic state, in which case the local symptoms be- 
come less marked, and it may stimulate a mild attack 
of laminitis. In such case there may be indurations 
and retractions or shortening of the muscles, and 
these are all complications which may involve de- 
formities resulting in lameness. . Suppuration may 
occur in cases of a traumatic origin, but in other 
cases is of rare occurrence. Lafosse mentions gan- 
grene as at times forming one of its terminations, 
occurring after a severe traumatism, and preceded 



LAMENESS OF BOtiSES. 71 

by excessive fever and intense sensitiveness of the 
vertebral column. In these cases on]y a fatal result 
can be anticipated. 

Causes. — Myositis has been observed in horses of 
a strong, robust and plethoric habit. Perhaps this 
class of animals is more liable to its attack than less 
vigorous and vivacious individuals of the species. 
A sudden suppression of perspiration may form a 
common occasional cause, and may give rise to either 
the acute or chronic form. Overwork of the muscles, 
or a rupture, or a laceration may be a cause in a 
traumatic case. Chemical and atmospheric causes 
as heat, especially burns or scalding, and electricity 
may be mentioned ; surgical operations, as setons, 
or acupuncture belong to the category, and it has 
been observed as the effect of the violent struggles 
of an animal which had been thrown for opera- 
tion. 

Treatment. — This is usually of the local kind. In 
the acute form, antiphlogistics are indicated, com- 
prising compresses with saline solutions, poultices, 
with anodyne frictions, embrocations of camphorated 
ointment, populeum, etc. The chronic form, on the 
other hand, requires stimulaut treatment, and alco- 
holic frictions, ammoniacal liniments, and even 
blisters, and, as Key recommends, sinapisms, will be 
demanded. The occurrence of suppuration, gan- 



72 LAMENESS OF H0itS£8. 

grene or abcess should be met with the usual treat- 
ment of those affections. 

(2). Neurosis, in some of its numerous forms, is 
not likely to be absent from such a condition of in- 
nervation of the locomotive function, and the patient 
will scarcely escape the disability and suffering 
attending the access of that peculiar spasmodic con^ 
traction in which the apparently " knotted " muscle 
forms the hard and painful tumor known as a cramp. 
The cause of this affection is little known, and its 
effects vary according to the region or organ in which 
the attack occurs. But during their continuance 
there is always a serious interference with the 
normal movements of the part, which then acquires 
a condition of violent, uncontrollable and painful 
fixity, whether in a position of flexion, extension, 
abduction, adduction or shortening. The contraction 
usually disappears spontaneously, and is not usually 
of long duration. There are cases, however, of more 
protracted continuance, and sometimes of recurrent 
attacks. The adult animal is less liable than the 
youthful, to this form of disorder, and notwithstand- 
ing their liability occasionally to return, there need 
be no apprehension of their final persistence or con- 
version into a chronic lesion. 

The treatment called for in these cases is of a very 
simple kind, and includes dry friction, which is 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 72 

usually sufficient to relax the contraction with fric- 
tion with stimulant mixtures, warm applications, 
the cold douche and other sedative mixtures. What- 
ever embrocation is used must be well rubbed in. 

(3 and 4). Atrophy of the voluntary muscles is 
more or less frequently ; while hypertrophy of the 
same structure is very rarely encountered in the 
voluntary muscles. The atrophied condition is 
likely to be found in animals which have lacked 
proper care and nourishment, and have suffered 
from poor and scanty regimen or other causes of 
depressed vitality, but it may be looked for as more 
commonly the result of a depraved nutrition of the 
muscular structure from inaction, and for this reason 
it is often present in regions which have been the 
seat of chronic disease. The protracted disuse of 
the part consequent on fracture, anchylosis, chronic 
arthritis, or other similar lesions, must also operate 
as a predisposing cause ; and it is known to have 
resulted from the pressure of a tumor of the muscular 
tissue. 

The treatment of atrophy must be suggested by a 
knowledge and study of the circumstances incident 
to each individual case, and must be varied and 
modified according to the judgment of the attending 
surgeon. 

(5). Degeneration of the muscles occurs in several 



U LAMENESS OF BOUSES. 

ways. In the fatty kind, the adipose, instead of 
being deposited between the ultimate fibres of the 
tissue, exists in their interior. In the granular, the 
ultimate fibres become swollen and opaque, and are 
filled with granules of a finer texture. In the ivaxy, 
the fibres have lost their transversal striae, as in the 
fatty, but instead of continuing colorless, they 
assume a yellowish hue and a waxy consistency. 
These are the forms which have been principally 
observed in domestic animals, and they have been 
chiefly found in those suffering from paraplegia. 

Melanosis is a common affection of the muscles of 
equines. The melanotic substance is sometimes 
found in large quantities. 

(6). Solutions of Continuity, comprehend "Wounds, 
Dislocation and Ruptures. A wound of a muscle 
does not differ from a similar injury of any other 
soft or vascular structure. In a rupture the organic 
fibres are broken by some effort involving their over- 
tension. They are of very common observation, and 
may be either complete or incomplete, according to the 
extent of the lesion. They are very rarely followed by 
suppurative inflammation, the recovery being usually 
prompt and certain. The dislocation of a muscle, 
where the displacement occurs independently of 
that of a bone, is a lesion of continuityvery rarely 
noticed in solipeds, but has been detected in cattle. 



LAMENESS OE MOUSES. 75 

(7). The Parasites which inhabit the muscular 
substance are found both in the cellular tissue and 
the ultimate fibre of that structure, The trichina 
spiralis inhabits the former, while the latter forms 
the habitat of the cysticercus, the echinococcus and 
the actinomycosis. Their existence, except in very 
large numbers, does not seem to be productive of 
any mischievous effects. When not sufficiently 
numerous to interfere with the muscular function, 
they may be considered innocuous. 

The muscular tissue may become the seat of 
tumors, such as the Immatoma, the cancerous growth 
and the myoma. The occurrence of any of these 
growths in our domestic animals is, however, one of 
great rarity. 

DISEASES OF TENDONS. 

Though lesions of these organs of a nature to 
involve vital consequences are rare, yet those which 
constitute mere physical injuries are of frequent 
occurrence, and in some cases become sources of 
great damage from the impairment, if not the entire 
loss of their functions. 

Diseases of the tendons may be considered under 
the three heads of first, inflammation ; second, degene- 
ration, and third, solution of continuity. 



76 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

(1). Inflammation of Tendons, or Tenositis, is an 
affection which many authors refuse to recognize, 
holding that its existence is incompatible with the 
general low condition of the capillary circulation of 
these structures. But if inflammation may exist in 
the interstitial cellular tissue which unites the rudi- 
mentary fibres, and this is necessarily true, it may 
as certainly exist in the tendon itself. The form 
most commonly encountered is the traumatic. 

The symptoms of this lesion are a rounded swelling, 
usually of limited extent, at the seat of the injury, 
and heat and pain of the skin covering it. A little 
hesitanc}^, or slight lameness may be the sum of the 
interference of the disorder with the action of the 
part. But when the injury has been extensive, the 
symptoms will be correspondingly exaggerated, and 
the pain aggravated by the unyielding nature of the 
inelastic tendinous sheath. 

Progress and Termination. — With timely discovery 
and treatment, tenositis subsides in a few days, but 
otherwise its persistance until it assumes a chronic 
form, is not a uncommun circumstance. Under this 
condition the tendon becomes enlarged, thickned and 
contracted, and serious deformities may ensue, as 
exemplified in a sprung knee, or a knuckled fetlock. 

The Causes are numerous, external violence, pro- 
ducing wounds and bruises, with the strain of over- 



Lameness of bouses. h 

work predominating, and the horse is in a majority 
of cases, the sufferer. 

The Treatment includes the usual applications of 
topical medication. The acute form will generally 
subside under the influence of absolute rest, mode- 
rate pressure, and the milder remedies in genera], 
the appliance of cold taking precedence of the rest. 
But in the chronic state blisters, with iodine alteratives 
are demanded, with the allied mechanical effect of 
high heeled shoes, and long rest, of course. This 
course will often insure relief, and still, cases will 
arise in which the actual cautery is the remedy par 
excellence. 

(2). The Degeneration of Tendons is mostly one of 
the resulting accompaniment of old age. It has 
been noticed by Lecocq, who found it more prevalent 
in the donkey tribe than among horses. Its usual 
form is a calcification of the tendinous substance, 
through the deposit of solidifying carbonate or phos- 
phate of lime. 

(3). Solutions df continuity in tendons are of four 
kinds. First, wounds with cutting intruments; 
second, wounds by puncture ; third, strains, or incom- 
plete ruptures, and fourth, ruptures, complete the list. 

(1). Wounds with sharp, cutting instruments : these 
cause but little pain. Their leading peculiarity 
is the distance which is noticed between the severed 



W LAMENESS OF SOMES. 

and retracted ends, when the separation is transverse" 
and complete. When the wound is subcutaneous, it 
may be detected by the vacancy which can be felt 
between the divided ends, which, however, is soon 
rilled up with blood. Tendinous wounds are not at 
first attended with much pain or great lameness, but 
after a period sufficient to develop inflammation in 
the skin covering, or the cellular tissue underlying 
the wounded part, and especially if there has been an 
access of air into the wound ; an increase of swelling, 
an enlargement of the parts, an access of pain and 
an aggravated condition of lameness, will follow any 
sharp contact with a metallic edge or projection, 
with sufficient force in the contact, being capable of 
severing a tendon, such a result may easily follow a 
runaway performance, or a restive kick against an 
angle of a carriage by a fractious or frightened 
animal. 

In the partial division of a tendon, simple appli- 
cations will be sufficient to effect, or to aid the cica- 
trization. Yet the cases will vary as to whether the 
skin is broken or whether it remains intact. If the 
division has occurred subcutaneously, union by the 
first intention may be secured by simply maintaining 
the ends in contact, or if they are separated, by the 
organization of the exudation which fills the space, 
between the ends, and after a period of a month or 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 79 

more, the restoration of the organ to its normal 
form and function will be accomplished. But if the 
wounded ends, through the opening of the skin has 
been exposed to contact with the atmosphere, the 
case assumes a serious character, and even fatal 
results may be apprehended. The ends of the 
tendons, at first pale and lifeless, soon become vas- 
cular and reddened, and covered with granulations, 
which soon unite with the surrounding tissues. 

If kept under control by judicious treatment, these 
granulations may in a short time change their 
character somewhat, and assuming the form of a 
simple flat surface, will continue to occupy the region 
of the wound. But the slightest neglect or mis- 
management of the case may cost dear, by deranging 
the reparative process and exciting a rapid and un- 
wholesome activity, which cannot be checked until 
it has brought forth its evil fruit. This appears in 
the form of a large fungoid body, which developes 
into a sort of cauliflower excressence, and is apt to be 
quite rebellious to ordinary methods of extirpation. 

As the essential object of treatment must be the 
coaptation of the severed ends and ther maintenance 
in contact, the applicability and value of the suture 
becomes obvious, if the difficulty of obviating the 
effect of the irritation due to the presence of a 
foreign body in the wound can be overcome. 



80 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

The position in which it will be necessary to con- 
fine the limb which is the seat of the lesion will be 
determined by observation of the precise point of 
injury and the special function of the implicated 
tendon, the wound, of course, leaving the limb either 
in a state of excessive extension or extreme flexion, 
as determined by the natural muscular action of the 
part. When the skin is divided, the indication will 
be met by bandaging, the roller being sometimes ap- 
plied above and below the wound only, and not over 
it. In our own experience, the bandaging which 
supports the whole region is generally to be prefer- 
red. The use of splints will sometimes be unavoid- 
able, and those of metallic material, ingeniously 
contrived to meet special indications, have some- 
times been found very serviceable. The limitation 
of motion through the confinement of the slings is 
also at times a large factor in the case. Whatever 
may be the means and appliances brought into 
requisition in the treatment of the divided tendon, 
the great indispensable condition and essential 
indication is immobility of the part. 

(2). Punctured Wounds frequently occur in com- 
plication with serious injuries, and are aggravated in 
their effects beyond those which might follow a 
simple puncture, by attendant inflammatory lesions 
of surrounding tissues, and the accumulation of 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 81 

purulent matter. When this occurs, the indications 
which present themselves are the liberation of the 
pus by free incisions, or, as recommended by some 
authors, the entire division of the tendons. 

(3). Sprains, or Incomplete Rupture may have 
either the tendon itself, or its sheath alone for its 
seat. Undue muscular effort is the usual cause of 
this lesion. Its characteristic phenomena, with the 
indication of the treatment demanded for its relief 
will be brought under consideration when we direct 
our attention to the subject of the Injuries of Special 
Regions. 

(4). Complete Rupture. — The extreme solidity and 
cohesive power of the tendinous cords, great as it is, 
does not always render them proof against the 
violent contractions of the muscles of which they 
form the continuation, and their complete disrup- 
tion is the result of their failure to bear the over- 
tension. The more common examples of these 
lesions occur, first, in the tendons of the flexor me- 
tatarsi ; next in those of the flexors of the phalanges^ 
and next, in the tendon Achilles. 



CHAPTEK III. 

SPECIAL DISEASES OF THE EXTEEMITIES. 

ANTEEIOE LEG. 

SHOULDEE JOINT. 

The anatomical complications which enter into 
the formation of the shoulder joint, and the impor- 
tance of the functions which it is designed to perform, 
together with the special liability to external acci- 
dents which it incurs by the prominence of its 
situation, sufficiently explain the interest of the 
subject and the necessity of prosecuting the study 
of its pathology. 

The lesions of this joint are divisible into two 
classes, comprising, first, those of the superficial 
parts, as the skin and the cellular tissue, and second 9 
those of the bony and muscular apparatus. 

LESIONS OF THE SKIN AND CELLULAE TISSUE. 
GALLS— ULCEES — ACNEA. 

The peculiarly exposed situation of the anterior 
parts of the shoulder region, by which they are 
rendered liable to every species of contact, and their 
constant subjection to pressure and friction from the 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 83 

collar or breast strap, necessarily results in the 
development of the morbid phenomena so frequently 
found in laboring animals, and their manifestations 
in the various forms and degrees in which they are 
so familiarly known, even to laymen. They, of 
course, appear under various aspects, and are tem- 
porary or permanent, deep or superficial, slight or 
severe, according to the mode of their manifestation 
and the intensity of the violence by which they are 
produced. 

The effect of constant friction and heavy pressure 
by the lateral movement of a collar, too large or 
otherwise misfitted, will be chafing and excoriation, 
which must unavoidably result in injury to the 
epidermis. Or the true dermis may be the seat of 
injury, and the degree of severity so far enhanced 
that even mortification may occur followed by the 
sloughing of portions of the diseased skin, with total 
disability of the patient to perform his accustomed 
labor. 

This is the condition of galling. 

Following this, if the originating cause is con- 
tinued, the condition of the anterior border of the 
shoulder becomes changed to that of a flattened, 
tumefied formation, composed of infiltrated cellular 
tissue of a hygromatous appearance, and this again, 
if there is still no interruption of the causal violence, 



84 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

will result in the appearance of acute phlegmonous 
tumors, and the development of warm and acute 
abscesses. 

The friction of the collar is productive of other 
lesions of the skin, if not so serious or dangerous in 
themselves, yet still embarrassing and troublesome, 
including various tumors, hard and soft, and some- 
times followed by a process of suppuration. True 
acne spots also appear, and these little tumors are 
usually far from being easily amenable to treatment, 
though none the less disabling to the suffering 
animal. They are usually encountered along the 
anterior border, but are not often known to assume 
sufficient dimensions to entitle them to a place in 
the category of the true abscess. 

The curative in all these modified forms of ailment, 
though agreeing in one point, to wit, the absolute 
exemption of the irritating causes just at fault, is 
simple in its general nature, though varying some- 
what in detail, according to existing circumstances. 
The release from labor must not be made contingent 
upon the degree of development in the case. How- 
ever slightly marked, the lesion may be, the only 
security against the risk of increasing the existing 
evil, lies in the total abstinence of the patient from 
labor while under treatment. It is of the first impor- 
tance to wait for the entire disappearance of all signs 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 85 

of chafing or superficial excoriation, before returning 
the horse to his work. A relapse may involve the 
formation of large indolent infiltrations, which are 
quite apt to be permanent under all methods of 
treatment. It is when the inflammation of these 
growths has assumed a degree of activity sufficient 
to result in the formation of an acute abscess, that 
the indication of treatment becomes at once obvious 
and its effect favorable. A free incision, to liberate 
the purulent accumulation, and sufficient time for 
the completion of the healing process, will end the 
case. 

The developments of these acne tumors, with 
their tendency to ulceration and suppuration is far 
from being of easy prevention. "When the ulcerative 
process is insufficient for their removal, they must 
be opened with bistoury, though even this will not 
insure their extirpation. "We have known them to 
reappear nearly as rapidly as they could be re- 
moved. When they become indurated, the suppur- 
ation may often be hastened by cauterization with 
a pointed iron, Bouley's opinion is adverse to the 
removal of such as have attained unusually large 
dimension, from an apprehension that the thin and 
delicate cicatricial tissue which forms their final 
covering will seldom prove to be sufficient to resist 
the subsequent pressure and friction of the harness. 



86 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

When the chafing is only superficial, or if it be 
deeper, and following the cicatrization of a slough, 
or the closing of aeneous abscesses, mechanical 
means may be employed to prevent the recurrence 
of the evil. If the animal cannot be long enough 
spared from his work to secure the perfect accomp- 
lishment of a cure by rest alone, much may be 
affected in the way of relief by the special fitting of 
the collar, by padding or chambering, or other 
methods of securing its proper adjustment. "We 
have often overcome recurrent attacks of acne by 
the application of a double soft collar between the 
ordinary collar and the skin, and we have seen great 
benefit attending the use of felt, thin leather, or of 
similar material. 

General topical treatment is nearly always recom- 
mended, astringents and refrigerants in cases of 
simple erythema; or warm fomentations, soothing 
embrocations, or other agencies of a stimulating 
character for the promotion of sloughing or sup- 
purration, according to the requirements of the 
existing case, and the particular lesions presenting 
themselves at the time. 

COLD ABSCESS. 

From the great similarity of the tissues involved 
with them, and the lesions of the cellular tissue of 



LAMENESS OF BOUSES. 87 

the region of the shoulder, with the frequency of 
their occurrence on the lower part of the anterior 
border of that joint, we are led to assign to that 
region the affection now under notice. 

The discriminating title of "cold," to distinguish 
it from the acute abscess, is given to it in reference 
to tendency of the inflammation in which it originates 
to assume the chronic character from its inception, 
this being its essential symptomatic feature. It 
is the idiopatic or primitive abscess, par excellance, 
and is essentially a local affection, originating in 
local causes, bting as in the lesions, already referred 
to, the effect of the friction arising from the move- 
ment of a loose and ill fitting collar. It may be 
looked for at the base of the neck, at the lower part 
of the anterior border of the shoulder. 

Its first appearance is usually in the form of an 
indurated tumor, slightly warm, and not very pain- 
ful, cedematous at its periphery, and at times giving 
rise to a large swelling enough to involve entirely 
the lower part of the neck. No fluctuation can be 
detected in any part of the enlargement. The 
tumor becomes better defined, in a short time, in 
consequence of the subsidence of the oedema. In 
size there, is variation, but in characteristic features 
there is uniformity. It is hard, but little, if at all, 
painful on pressure, without heat, and without 



88 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

change from the natural color, and if unmolested, it 
continues unchanged for long periods of time. The 
recollection of these characteristics, in connection 
with the consideration of their local situation, and 
their clinical history will easily guide the surgeon to 
a correct diagnosis. The fact, as remarked by 
Bouley, that there is suppuration in ninety-five 
hundredths of known cases, is sufficient to justify 
their exclusion from the list of fibrous or indurated 
tumors. 

The cold abscess is not a serious lesion, and the 
prognosis of a case would be a simple matter, but 
for the slowness of their developement, the persis- 
tency of their duration and their indisposition to 
cicatrize. 

The first indication in respect to the treatment of 
these tumors, when their clinical history justifies a 
suspicion of the presence of pus, is the verification 
of the suspicion by exploration. To effect this, 
either a pointed bistoury, a fine trocar, or an explor- 
ing needle may be used, and it will sometimes be 
necessary to push the examination to a consider- 
able depth. If the puncture is followed by the 
escape of the suspected fluid, the tumor must be 
opened to the bottom by a free incision, by which 
the entire collection may be discharged. Then, as 
there will be a strong tendency in the wound to 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 89 

close, even before the escape of the entire deposit, 
measures must be adopted to conteract that disposi- 
tion, as well as to encourage an active inflammatory 
process, in order to promote the solution of the 
thick walls of the sac. The cautery affords the means 
for this. It should be applied with a pointed iron, 
deeply introduced and so manipulated as to bring it 
into contact with the parts as extensively as 
possible. Stimulating applications on the surface 
will also be serviceable in order to enhance the 
effect of the cautery. These will include the usual 
alterative and irritating substances, as cantharides, 
and others of that class. The introduction into the 
tract made by the cautery of a mixture of basilicon, 
populeum, rendered more active by the addition of 
a little cantharidal ointment has often accelerated 
the suppuration of a very indolent abscess. But it 
frequently happens that the exploration fails to 
detect the presence of the purulent deposite, which 
may be too deeply lodged, or too scant in quantity 
to identify, or the indurated character of the tumor 
may account for its absence. In Such a case the 
entire dissolution of the tumor must be accomp- 
lished, and the incision and opening already made 
must be utilized, for the introduction of the needed 
medicaments. The cautery, reapplied with long and 
fine irons, red hot, and carried to the bottom of the 



90 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

mass, will here be indicated, and this must be 
supplemented by the potential cautery, for which the 
usual caustic substances may be used, until the 
tumor has been finally extirpated. The same detail 
in the method is not always necessary, and in some 
instances the direct injection of irritating substances 
into the centre of the tumor, for the stimulation of 
the suppurative process is considered to be the 
preferable treatment. In any case much caution is 
demanded in the selection of the irritants, to be 
employed, with due discrimination against such as 
are not sufficiently amenable to control. Inattention 
to this caution has sometimes resulted in extensive 
swelling and suppuration of a very serious and 
threatening character. Our experience with a 
saturated solution of chloride of zinc has been quite 
favorable. The injection of one or two drachms of 
this article into the centre of a large tumor has 
excited a sufficient amount of inflammation to allow 
its free opening in a few days. 

The tenacity of these tumors, with their dispo- 
sition to relapse, and the abstention of the patient 
from his work involved in their treatment and the 
time which it occupies, have induced some veterin- 
arious to favor the speedy removal of the diseased 
mass by cutting out the more superficial portions of 
the thickened walls. This is poor surgery, and is 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 91 

hardly admissible, even when the growth is of a 
well defined and limited extent, and much less when 
the abscess is surrounded by a large cedematous 
swelling in which case such a suggestion must be 
entirely ignored. In respect to this species of 
swelling the wiser plan will be to wait for its sub- 
sidence, at the same time encouraging its absorption 
by local stimulants, such as poultices, warm formen- 
tations, and the various embrocations in use, before 
having recourse to the exploration. 

But the treatment of a cold abscess by external 
medication alone has never, in our experience, 
proved permanently beneficial. Cantharides, alter- 
atives, iodine, mercury, and their kind may, any of 
them, apparently wholly or partially remove the 
neoplasm, but the slightest revival of activity in the 
original formative cause, or the retention of the 
smallest portion of pus in the cavity of the abscess 
will insure the return of the disease in as bad a form 
as before, with the additional disadvantage of the 
loss of irretrievable time which might have been 
saved by promptly, resorting as the initial step, to 
the exploratory operation. 



92 * LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

LESIONS OF MUSCLES, LIGAMENTS AND BONES. 
SPEAINS. 

Sprained shoulder, wrench, and slip of the shoulder, 
are terms frequently employed to designate the 
lesions of that part of the extremity which among 
the French veterinarians, passes under the name of 
ecart, because, as they affirm, they have the effect of 
causing the horse a ecarter le membre du thorax." By 
the Germans it is known as Buglahmeit, schulter- 
loehmeing. 

In many cases the true seat of the lesions which 
are characteristic of this form of injury is in the 
soft structures of the joints, or surrounding it, 
including the muscles, the tendons, and perhaps the 
ligaments. In others the articulation itself may be 
the part involved. The complexity which is charac- 
teristic of the anatomy of the entire region, with the 
lesions, justify the conclusion accepted by common 
consent, of the complicated character of the patho- 
logy of this disease. It in fact requires no small 
exercise of critical acumen to determine invariably 
whether it is seated in the muscular system, 
affecting the antea or postea spinatus, or the flexor 
brachii, as in some cases ; or whether, as in others, it 
is the ligament of the joint itself, or the tendons which 
surround it ; or again, whether it is in fact the bones 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 93 

and not the muscles at all, and if so, whether it is 
their articular surfaces, or the fibro-cartilage over 
which the tendons glide, as that of the bicipital 
groove ; or whatever may be the structure or tissues 
that enter into either the anatomy or the physiology 
of the shoulders, and are liable to suffer by reason of a 
sprain or a wrench. 

Muscular lesions will vary in respect both to the 
location of these organs, and the special circumstan- 
ces of their occurrence, and there will be many 
niceties of difference which only the critical judge- 
ment of the expert pathologist can discover. Thus, 
in hurts from excessive stretching or tearing which 
have occurred during the flexure of the joint, he will 
point out the coraco-radialis, and perhaps the 
mastoido-humeralis as the injured muscles. If the 
injury has occurred, while the limb was extended, he 
will fix it upon the olecranon muscles. "When during 
abduction, it will be the sub-scapularis, or the 
pectorals ; when in adduction, the antea and postea 
spinatus. Bat if the muscles are affected in common, 
the tendons may participate as well. 

Bouley has observed cases both of synovitis and 
arthritis, Rigot, Renault and Leblanc mention 
chronic lesions of articular surfaces ; while extensive 
periostitis of the upper end of the humerus, with 
ulceration of the bicipital groove have fallen under 



94 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

our own observation: a condition which has not 
escaped the remarkable observation of Percival, who 
thus writes : 

" The tendon of the flexor brachii passes down 
"from its attachments to the scapula within a groove 
" formed between the tubercles upon the head of the 
"os humeri, and plays up and down within this 
"groove, after the manner of a rope over a pulley, 
" the surface both of tendon and groove being 
" coated with articular cartilage and being enclosed 
" within a synovial sac. Now, from the circumstances 
" of this muscle being mainly employed in bending 
" and raising the arm,- of the known liability of bursal 
" joints, such as this, to get out of order, and of the 
" presumed and pretty well ascertained seat of aill 
" ment being the point of the shoulder, a part directly 
" opposite to this bursa, there seems good reason for 
" believing that this said bursa is the especial or usua- 
" seat of derangement or disease in shoulder lameness. 

The most frequent causes of shoulder lameness 
being wrenching, spraining, stretching, and blows 
the most common causes of these, again, are slipping 
and falling, occasioned by travelling upon steep and 
irregular roads, or upon greasy or icy surfaces, as 
in resisting the pressure of a heavy load from 
behind, while moving down a declivity, or in drag- 
ging such a burden upon an ascending road. Slipping, 



LAMMES8 Of SO&SES. 6S 

When alighting from a jump; balling with Snow; 
violent abduction ; it is quite unnecessary to under- 
take the enumeration of the multifarious methods, 
of contracting the hurts by which this form of lame- 
ness is generated. One more, however, may be 
added, by referring to the lateral jerk, to which the 
dray horses of our cities are subjected in their 
efforts to escape approaching rail cars by hurrying 
across, or especially when moving obliquely out of 
the street track. 

Added to these external and traumatic causes, we 
may refer to those of a constitutional character, and 
include rheumatism among the number. 

The peculiar anatomy of the superior part of 
either the anterior or posterior extremity renders 
its examination a difficult task, the large masses of 
muscle by which they are covered effectually 
preventing their exploration with the facility with 
which other parts may be manipulated. The 
anterior limb offers special obstacles to the work of 
the surgeon, from the greater compactness and 
solidity of the parts, and closed attachment to the 
chest. One effect of this solidity being a difficulty of 
discriminating, arising from the sympathetic suscep- 
tibility of the upper and lower regions, which may 
cause a sympathetic and responsive irregularity 
of action in the former when the latter is the true 



96 LAMENESS OF MOUSES. 

seat of the lesion. Under such circumstances some 
degree of confusion or hesitancy in the diagnosis 
cannot always be avoided. 

Still, there are conditions in which a positive and 
reliable diagnosis of shoulder lameness is not only 
practicable, but easy and sure, the objective characters 
being too well marked to admit of misinterpretation. 
Thus, in an animal suffering from lameness in one 
fore leg, with the shoulder being the seat of a 
swelling, and evidence of pain on pressure or 
percussion, exaggerated when excessive motion of 
the shoulder is produced by external manipulations, 
the location of the lesion cannot be ignored. 

The mode of progression, in shoulder lameness, 
when the patient is compelled to walk, is character- 
istic. There is but limited motion in the upper 
segments of the diseased leg, and a forced limitation 
in the flexion of the radius upon the humerus, with 
a failure of the limb to move freely forward, instead 
of which a motion of circumduction takes place, by 
which the limb is swung outward by a movement so 
characteristic as to give rise to a sort of proverbial 
saying, that " it is an infallible sign that the grief is 
in the shoulder. " 

It is a remark of Percival that " in shoulder lame- 
" ness, the horse neither points with the foot of the 
" lame limb, nor usually stands upon it differently 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 9? 

"from what lie does upon the sound leg." The 
second part of the statement is correct; and may be 
verified by observing that both in the act of walking, 
or when coming to a rest, the foot is planted flatly 
on the ground, the entire plantar surface coming 
down at once. But, the first part of the remark 
must be accepted with some explanation. The 
animal does not truly point, as in navicular disease, 
but frequently rests his leg forward, as in pointing, 
but with the difference that in shoulder lameness 
the foot rests upon the entire plantar surface, instead 
of the toe alone, with raised heels, as in navicular 
arthritis. Together with this and others another 
intelligible sign must be taken into account, in the 
inequality which occurs in the length and quickness 
of the steps, the body being suffered to rest upon 
the sound limb for the longer period, while the pain- 
ful side is relieved from its weight by a greatly 
accelerated, or hopping motion. Or the pain may 
even be so severe that the limb is withheld from 
motion entirely, and the act of progression accomp- 
lished by a series of short jumps, in which the three 
sound legs alone participate, the diseased member 
being held immovable and in suspension at the side 
of the thorax. 

But it frequently occurs that diagnostic signs and 
objective symptoms alike are wholly absent, when a 



§8 IJMMUsa OF BOUSES. 

true and satisfactory diagnosis becomes a work of 
greater difficulty. A careful excessive motion arti- 
ficially produced is here of great service. Here is an 
effectual method for applying this test, and critical 
search for the rational symptoms then becomes 
necessary. The foot must be minutely and thoroughly 
inspected, and every part of the leg carefully 
examined by pressure, and even measurements 
should be accurately made, of both sides, for a 
comparison of dimensions. With one hand resting 
on the arm or over the point of the shoulder, the 
other should be employed in moving the implicated 
limb. This should be done more or less forcibly, 
and the leg should be subjected to all the varieties 
of natural movement by being flexed, extended, 
adducted or abducted, and also contorted. By such 
means the seat of pain may be made to discover 
itself and an important advantage sometimes 
secured. But the results of such an examination 
must be accepted with caution, and in the words of 
Percival, " we must confess our diminished faith 
" in tests like these, compared with such as are 
" afforded by action and the absence of any cause or 
" suspicion for lameness elsewhere." Symptoms 
derived from the action of abduction of the leg can- 
not be considered as belonging exclusively to 
shoulder lameness. We have met with it in animals 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 99 

lame in other regions and from other causes. In 
Zundel's view, if it is truly and essentially character- 
istic, it is only in recent and severe sprains. 

Much assistance in the diagnosis of obscure cases 
may be rendered by observations of the peculiarities 
of movement which accompany the act of locomotion 
The suggestions of authors on this point are various. 
According to one, if the horse is made to trot, on the 
lame leg in a narrow circle, he will put his foot on 
the ground without hesitancy in order to save the 
shoulder. Another suggests backing, when the 
pain attending the movement will cause him to drag 
the lame foot. Another advises trotting on soft 
ground, where the feet will sink in the earth, and the 
extra exertion expended in drawing them out will 
betray the seat of the trouble by the increase of the 
lameness and pain, which will be much less marked 
when the foot is the weak member, than when the 
shoulder is affected. According to Hertwig, a horse 
lame in the shoulder stumbles frequently, and 
Dieterichs thinks the soreness is more marked while 
ascending, than while descending a hill. 

The atrophy of the muscle, or " wasting of the 
shoulder," the "sweney " of old hippiatry, is at best 
but a remote cause of the lameness, since it is 
observed, not in injuries of the shoulder alono, but 
may also exist when in any part of the leg there is 



ICO LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

a lesion sufficiently serious to restrict freedom of 
motion and compel a condition of inactivity or even 
absolute quiescence. 

The prognosis in any case of lameness of the 
upper region of the leg may always be considered 
serious, not only from the danger of a fatal ending, 
but in any case, on account of the deterioration of the 
animal in commercial value. It will of course be 
modified according to the degree and nature of the 
producing ailment in the case, but under any circum- 
stances the practitioner will do well to make a 
guarded expression of his views, from the fact that 
the spontaneous recovery of cases which had been 
pronounced to be beyond treatment has not unfre- 
quently taken place under the influence of complete 
rest alone, without help from other agencies. 

The treatment of shoulder lameness will of course 
vary, according to the special features of each case. 
Much will depend on the reasonable subjection of 
the patient to the care of the surgeon, as of course 
there is a better promise of favorable results in a 
recent, than in an old and neglected case. The 
first and most indispensable indication is rest. Con- 
finement in a single stall, rather than a box ; securing 
him in such a manner as to restrict his movements 
and prevent him from lying down ; and the applica- 
tion of hobbles, which will prevent motion and keep 



LAMENESS OE HOUSES. 101 

his feet close together, are methods which are 
recommended by many practitioners, and are even 
sometimes considered sufficient of themselves to 
insure recover}*. Recent cases are benefitted by 
local treatment, and for this, cooling lotions, contin- 
ued irrigation, and the cold douche are favored by 
French and German authors, while English writers, 
with Percivall, propose warm water fomentations, 
"persisted in, and directed in particular to the point 
of the shoulder." Irritating treatment is also very 
beneficial, immobility of the part being largely pro- 
moted and aided by the effect of the irritants and 
vesicants employed. The tincture and ointment of 
cantharides, spirits of camphor, and any of the 
various well known stimulating medicaments will be 
in order here. Mixture of oil of turpentine, or the 
stronger ammoniacal liniments, must however be 
cautionsly used, from their aptitude to overact, 
and excite an excess of motion in the patient. A 
blister over the point of the shoulder, and including 
a portion of the surrounding parts, is useful in 
sprains, whether old or recent. But if this with 
other external treatment should fail to procure the 
satisfactory results anticipated, resort may be had 
to a seton introduced under the skin, as a more 
efficacious measure. Percivall considers this as 
decidedly superior to the blister, in point of activity 



102 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

and efficacy, but recommends it principally in 
chronic cases. There are various modes of applying 
this remedial means. A single one may be intro- 
duced along the anterior border of the scapula ; or 
two, one at each angle of the shoulder ; or, as Girard 
suggests, two, crossing one another at the point of 
joint. Gaullet proposes the insertion of several 
simultaneously, starting from the cervical angle of 
the scapula, along the anterior border, around the 
point of the shoulder towards the axilla, through the 
axilla to the point of the olecranon, and from there 
returning to the dorsal angle of the scapula, where 
it terminates near the place of beginning. This 
monster seton, though not often employed, may be 
used with undoubted advantage, from its effects in 
limiting the movements of the animal and its action 
as a powerful counter irritant, and excitant of the 
functions of nutritive absorption. Rowells are also 
not uncommonly used in place of setons, but we 
think, with less and more limited effect. 

The actual cautery is much recommended and often 
applied in the treatment of chronic shoulder lame- 
ness, though its use is nearly always defered until 
after the failure of other means. This is contrary to 
the opinion of Bouley, who holds that " it would be 
" better to employ it from the start, when surrounding 
" the joint there exist indurated swellings, indicating 



LA3IENESS OF HORSES. 103 

" chronic lesions, of the articular surfaces, of the 
"tendons or the synovial membrane." According 
to the indications present, it may be applied in 
lines over the entire scapular region, or over the 
point only of the shoulder ; or the application may 
be made in points or penetrating dots. 

Of course the potential cautery has not been over- 
looked in the devising of methods for the treatment 
of the lame shoulder ; and good results have followed 
its employment. It is applied by simply depositing 
a suitable portion of the silver-nitrate, when that is 
the substance chosen, under the skin, on a level with 
the articulation, and allowing it to remain for a 
period varying from twenty-four to forty hours. No 
fear need be entertained in respect to the symptoms 
following. Neither the tumefaction, the absorption, 
the dimensions of the resulting slough, nor any other 
of the appearancas attending the state of the wound 
need excite any fear. The only unfavorable comp- 
lication that seems possible is the extensive under- 
mining of the skin by the accumulated suppuration. 
But this is said to be easily controlled and remedied 
by means of a free opening at the most dependent 
point, to facilitate the escape of the deposited 
matter. 

While it is obvious, that different attacks of 
lameness may and must be attributable to lesions of 



104 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

the different structures which enter into the forma- 
tion of the joint, with their various distinctive 
peculiarities, as of special vital function, special 
susceptibility to impressions and special vital activ- 
ity, demanding its own special consideration, it is 
a fact equally obvious and true, as we have before 
intimated, that there is one indication common to 
each case and that is equally imperative in all. 
Long rest, following recovery is this essential and 
imperative condition of final cure in every case of 
shoulder lameness ; a rest of months, either by 
placing the convalescent in a large box stall, or if 
possible, giving him an opportunity to take moderate 
exercise, to be limited and otherwise controlled by 
his own inclination. In no other way can the hazard 
of a troublesome and dangerous relapse be avoided 
"with its aggravations of symptoms and complications 
of debility, and enhanced gravity of prognosis. 

ELBOW JOINT. 

The records of veterinary experience contains but 
few intimations on the subject of the etiology, the 
symptomatology and the nature of lesions likely to 
terminate in lameness of the elbow joint. 

The peculiarities of formation which characterize 
this perfect hinge, in the strength of its ligaments, 
the peculiar power of the muscles which protect and 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 105 

control it, and the perfect adaptation of the bones 
which enter into its structure, sufficiently explain 
the fact of the limited liability of this articulation to 
traumatic lesion, and at the same time account for 
the rarity of its mention by the books. 

Yet there can be no doubt of the fact that such 
injuries, and of course the lesions in which they 
result have fallen under the observation of veteri- 
nary writers, and it is equally certain that none of 
the structures composing the elbow joint are endowed 
with immunity from disease and violence, with their 
natural concomitants. 

Professor Williams, in his excellent work on 
Surgery describes among the lesions of the mass of 
the extensors of the fore arm, an injury which is not 
unfrequently encountered, in these terms : "the fore 
" arm being flexed upon the humerus ; the action of 
" the flexor brachii being now unopposed, the knee 
"is elevated, the leg flexed from the knee downward, 
" the toe of the foot touching the ground, and the 
"limb being semi-pendulous. When the horse is 
" made to move he drops considerably, and seems in 
" danger of falling at every step he takes, the limb 
" itself almost bending double, when any weight is 
" thrown upon it. This excessive dropping during 
" progression is characteristic of elbow joint lame- 
ness " 



106 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

There are certain symptoms present in ligamen- 
tous lameness which materially contribute to a 
corret diagnosis. When the internal ligament is the 
seat of the lesion, the part will be very painful, with 
increase of heat, and usually some swelling. The 
function of locomotion will be much interfered with, 
and the lameness very considerable. The flexion at 
the elbow is very limited, with perhaps, a slight 
motion of abduction, and when moving, a well 
marked dragging of the toe when it is carried 
forward. While at rest, he stands comparatively 
firmly on his feet. In one case the pushing of the 
fore arm against the lower end of the humerus 
excited an evident manifestation of pain. 

A case described by Percivall was peculiar on 
account of the symptoms of laminitis, which it 
presented. The lameness had continued for a long 
period, and the treatment had been directed to every 
region of the leg, but without successful result. In 
his description of the case, the author says: 
" During the early period there was nothing to strike 
" notice in his manner of propelling or putting down 
" the lame limb, save that he evidently did all he 
" could in action to throw the weight of his body as 
" it appeared to us, upon the heel of the foot; so that 
" I more than once suspected chronic laminitis, and 
"had on that supposition inserted a seton through 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 107 

" the frog. When lie had become lamer and was 
"consequently more unwilling still to impose weight 
" upon the lame limb, he evinced a sort of dragging 
" of the limb after him in his going ; which symptom 
"it was, combined with an increased manifestation 
" of it in his side movements, that disposed us to 
" think his case was one of shoulder lameness. By 
" the time however, that he showed lameness in both 
" fore legs, and particularly when he became, as he 
" had latterly become, quite a cripple, he manifested 
"a remarkable crouching sort of action, dreading 
" almost to move his fore limbs forward, and mani- 
" festing such exquisite soreness and pain when com- 
" pelled to move on, that, while he was making as 
" short steps as he could, he was doing his utmost 
" to keep his body back and advance his hind limbs 
"to receive its weight, to prevent any of it or as 
" little as possible, falling upon his fore limbs. In 
" short, his posture and gait altogether were very like 
"that of acute founder; so like indeed, that, per- 
" haps, one might not be able to make a distinction 
"between the two diseases, were it not that in 
" founder the feet would show the nature of the 
" disease ; and that in elbow joint disease, although 
" the animal manifested all the pain and dread of 
" stepping, yet, when the whip was applied, and he 
" found himself obliged to go, did he plainly show 



108 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

" that his fear arose purely from the pain of the 
" moment, and not from any cause of absolute ina- 
"bility to tread ; and further, that the pain evinced 
" at the moment of putting down the foot, as in 
' ' founder, but at the time when the body was required 
" to be advanced by the hind upon the fore limbs ; at 
" the moment, in fact, that he was called on during 
"action to throw the slightest weight upon the 
" columns of bones, which he no sooner had done 
"than his body shrunk back upon the hind quarters : 
" in fact, it was evidently the effort to throw the 
" weight upon the muscles of the shoulder instead of 
"upon the bony column that occasioned that pecu- 
liar crouching gait. And every now and then, while 
"he was being compelled to walk, would he, at the 
"moment the weight came upon his four limbs 
" crouch down to that degree, that lookers-on cried 
"out he would "fall ;" on no occasion, however, did 
"he fall, but always saved himself by shrugging his 
"body back upon his haunches." At the post- 
mortem examination, " the inferior or broader half 
" of the articulatory surface of the ulna presented a 
" patch of ulceration, of the shape of a figure whose 
" sides measured about an inch each. The trans 
"verse portion of the articulatory surface of the radi- 
" us, which naturally is an eminence, had become a 
" fissure of ulceration of about a quarter of an inch 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 109 

" in breath at its widest, which was its posterior part : 
" this ulceration extended but little more than half 
"way across the surface, the portion of surface in 
" front of it being sound. There was likewise a 
"patch of ulceration in the internal between the 
" condyles of the humerus, of a triangular shape, but 
"which, in that situation, would not be opposed, 
" either in action or at rest, to the ulceration upon 
"the ulna. There was a patch of discolouration 
" upon the front of the outer condyle a seeming pre- 
cursory to ulceration. From the surface of the 
"ulcer upon the olecranon, there were granulations 
" springing up, which, it is to be believed, would in 
" the course of time havebecome osseous and formed 
"the nucleus for an anchylosis of the joint. There 
"was no disease of the periosteal or ligamentary 
"tissue out side the joint." 

CAPPED ELBOW — SHOE BOIL. 

This species of tumor is a growth varying in 
aspect, form and dimensions ; more or less circum- 
scribed ; and painful ; movable and hanging from 
the point of the elbow joint. It is known as the 
capped elbow. It is VEponge of the French and die 
Stollbeule of the Germans. It is the result of pres- 
sure, bruises, or contusions, and is produced by the 



110 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

contact of the heels, or the shoes on the fore feet 
when the animal assumes the sterno-costal decubitus, 
in imitation of the position of the cow when lying 
down. The manner in which the injury is inflicted' 
varying according to the accidents peculiar to each 
case, there will be corresponding variations in the 
manifestations which severally present themselves, 
and there are consequently, four different forms of 
capped elbow recognized and treated by authors. 

In the (Edematous form the tumor is soft and puffy 
of various degrees of developement ; not well defined, 
but covering the point of the elbow. It is not pain- 
ful in any unusual degree. It is essentially formed 
by the infiltration and congestion of the bruised 
skin, which may present a point of depillation, or a 
serious exudation coming from the pressure of the 
shoe. At times, however, the oedema is warm and 
painful, and it becomes by its size and its tenderness 
a serious hindrance to locomotion, a considerable 
degree of abduction accompanying the act of pro- 
gression. This condition, however, is not persistent, 
and after no long interval, the tumor assumes the 
phlegmonous form. 

The tumor now becomes warm, painful, and some- 
what hard, and the lameness is excessive. But after 
some days a softening takes place, fluctuation may 
be discovered, and presently ulceration follows, with 



LAMENESS OF HORSES 111 

a discharge of thin, bloody suppurative matter, to be 
succeeded by extensive sloughing at the original 
point of injury. 

The cystic form, or the hygroma of the elbow is the 
most common of the category, and usually assumes 
the chronic character, under the appearance of a 
generally well defined tumor, uniformly fluctuating, 
but rarely warm or painful, and containing in its 
cavity a yellow serosity, which partakes however, at 
times of a somewhat purulent character. The cyst 
is sometimes multilocular, having partitioning bands 
running from wall to wall and separating the whole 
into several cavities. 

The true indurated or chronic form offers a tumor 
of varying size, from that of a large nut to that of a 
child's head. It is indolent, and usually entirely 
indurated, though it may sometimes contain one or 
several small central cavities, the seat of former 
abscesses. Again, it may be entirely covered by the 
skin, and appear as a large fibrinous growth at the 
posterior border of the ulna and, notwithstanding 
its dimensions, without interfering with the move- 
ments of the animal. At this stage it seems to have 
reached its acme, and becomes thence forward simply 
an unsightly, though lameless redundancy and 
stationary blemish. 

These four forms of capped elbows may all be 



112 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

present in the same animal, by forming each in its 
turn, the legitimate termination of its predecessor. 
This occurs when the cedematious form, or stage 
failing to be relieved by the process of resolution, 
passes to the phlegmonous condition and developes 
into an abscess, or if the inflammation is of a milder 
degree, ends in a cystic collection, to be finally suc- 
ceeded by the establishment of the indurated tumor. 

Capped elbow cannot, except in a small proportion 
of cases, be properly ranked with the more serious 
diseases of the horse. When it can be so regarded, 
it is in consequence of an unusally developed degree 
of inflammatory action which has ended in slough- 
ing, the perforation of the skin, and burrowing 
suppuration. But it may otherwise become a matter 
of grave consideration, mainly from its disfiguring 
effect, which may at times become so marked and 
disagreeable as to require and justify a resort to 
severe and tedious modes of treatment for its remo- 
val, when the value of the animal is sufficient to 
justify that course. 

The Treatment of capped elbow is either preventive 
or curative. 

The cause of the lesion being the pressure or 
friction of the foot or shoe upon the joint, as already 
described, it is obvious, of course, that prevention of 
the injurious pressure, by hindering the animal from 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 113 

assuming the sterno costal decubitus, involves also 
the prevention of the shoe boil. 

While the education of young animals disposed to 
contract the habit of lying down in the position 
named, may in some instances accomplish the 
desired results, it can scarcely be expected that any 
important advantage can be secured by attempting 
to train the older victims into better voluntary 
habits. The most effectual preventive means must 
therefore be of a compulsory sort. The use of large 
boots, placed around the coronet and projecting 
beyond the heels of the shoe is one of the recom- 
mendations. Thick, soft india rubber air pads, 
placed over the heels, have often done well. 
Zundel recommends rollers of straw, tied on the fore 
arm above the knee and on the canon below it, in 
order to prevent the excessive flexion of the joint 
which necessarily occurs in assuming the objection- 
able posture. In many instances orthopedic shoeing 
forms the basis of treatment as when the animal is 
fitted with a shoe with the inside branch truncated, 
shorter than the other, and smoothly bevelled from 
its ground to the foot surface at the heel. The pre- 
vention of the trouble, or when too late for that, 
important aid in lessening the mischief has in many 
instances followed the use of one or the other of 
these appliances. 



114 LAMENESS OE HOUSES. 

A common and simple means for the prevention of 
shoe boil, and one which we have known to be exten- 
sively employed, and attended with great advan- 
tage, is the nailing upon the floor across the width 
of the stall and about three feet from the manger 
of a square strip of wood measuring about three 
inches each way. It is in use in some of the largest 
horse establishments in the country, with largely 
beneficial results. 

The curative treatment varies, correspondingly 
with the forms and stages of the disease. 

In the cedematous form, the principal indication 
is to stimulate the process of resolution. To accomp- 
lish this, recourse must be had to the usual category 
of topical medicaments, including all the sedative 
prescriptions ; warm formations ; astringent mix- 
tures ; a paste of clay, or the acetate of lime ; washes 
of lead, and when the swelling is painful, opium; 
aconite ; belladonna, or camphorated mixture ; and 
sometimes light blisters are of advantage. Punc- 
turing is comparatively seldom useful. 

When the phlegmonous stage has been reached the 
indication will be to accelerate the ripening of the 
abscess. Poultices would be specially effective if 
their application were less difficult. In lieu of them 
dependence must be placed on warm fomentations, 
perseveringly repeated, and lubrications with warm 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 115 

oil, until fluctuation can be detected, and then, a/ree 
opening for the easy escape of the pus. The usual 
routine treatment may follow after that. 

The cystic form of the hygroma must be freely 
opened at the beginning. If upon emptying the 
cavity it is found to be multilocular, the septa 
should be broken down by the fingers. The interior 
lining surface should then be irritated, either by the 
finger nail, or by throwing in some irritating injec- 
tion, the standard article for this being the tincture of 
iodine. The tendency of the wound to close rapidly, 
which is very strong, however freely it may have 
been opened, is in most cases to be overcome by 
cauterizing deeply with a pointed iron, by this 
means both keeping the wound open and stimulating 
the disposition to suppuration. By thus transform- 
ing the cavity into a true abscess its tendency to 
diminish is promoted, and its final extinction faci- 
litated. The introduction of a seton through the 
entire length of the tumor is prefered by some 
practitioners for the accomplishment of the same 
object. 

Although these forms of treatment are often 
followed by the gradual and entire disappearance of 
the shoe-boil, we have also frequently noticed the 
appearance of small fibrous looking enlargements 
remaining, even long after the cicatrization had 



116 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

become perfect and complete. Friction with iodu- 
rated iodine ointment, rendered slightly more active 
by the addition of a small portion of cantharides, 
carefully made and repeated, have in many instan- 
ces removed them entirely, restored valuable 
animals to their original symetry and value. 

When the indurated form has become established, 
and also when treatment in the other cases has 
proved ineffectual, in the modes already refered to, 
but one alternative remains. The remedy then is 
extirpation. 

The means for the accomplishment of this indica- 
tion as recommended by Peuch and Toussaint, are the 
knife, the thermo-cautery, the ecraseur and the 
simple or elastic ligature. 

When the knife is the means, the careful separation 
of the tumor from the skin is effected with the bis- 
toury, and its final amputation is accomplished with 
the knife. The accompanying hemorrhage, though 
considerable, seldom reaches the point of danger. 

By resorting, to the thermo-cautery, after the 
careful isolation of the tumor, hemorrhage is avoided 
and the ecraseur dispensed with. 

The ligature, applied over the skin, is recom- 
mended by Dickerhoff. It is a strong carbolized 
cord, which is placed tightly around the tumor, with 
an increase of the tension every second day. Peuch 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 117 

and Toussaint, instead of the ordinary, prefer the 
elastic ligature, our experience of this method dates, 
as far back as thirteen years. We then applied it in 
a number of instances, but were not satisfied with 
the result. It is true that our patients were cured, 
but we were convinced by the large cutaneous ulcer 
which was left, and the time required for healing the 
sore, that this method possesses no advantage over 
the other forms of treatment. It is true that to 
remove a large indurated mass from the elbow will 
necessitate extensive incisions ; that to keep the edges 
of the wound together will in many instances require 
ingenious methods of dressing, in order to prevent 
excessive movement of the joint, but notwithstanding 
all this, we have obtained the cicatrization of similar 
wounds, and witnessed the restoration of the horse to 
his ability to labor, in much less time than is 
required for the entire cicatrization of the wound of 
the skin caused by the amputation by ligature. 

As a proper dressing for the wounds resulting 
from the operations we have been considering, Dick- 
erhoff recommends a mixture of tar, Egyptian oint- 
ment, empyreumatic oil and tincture of aloes. With 
these ingredients, thoroughly combined, a paste 
is to be formed of sufficient consistency to adhere to 
the skin which it covers and protects. 



118 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

KNEE JOINT. 
CARPITIS. 

Although from a contemplation of the complicated 
anatomy of the carpus, (and the remark, from the 
near similarity of the two articulations, will apply 
equally to the hock joint), one would a priori, attri- 
bute to it a special liability to disease, yet the litera- 
ture of carpitis is of very meager account. The 
French writers make a general division of the diseased 
conditions of that part of the leg by describing 
separately the lesions of the synovial membranes 
and those of the bony apparatus ; while the English 
authors consider the subject under the simple head 
of carpitis, and they all with Percivall and Williams, 
refer to an excellent article published in the Veter- 
inarian of 1845 by Mr. Arthur Cherry. 

Our own view of the subject is that carpitis ought 
to be understood as an inflammatory condition of 
the entire carpus, including under the same name 
the bony, with the other true articular elements as 
well, such as the ligaments and the synovial mem- 
branes.-- -And this is evidently the idea of Mr. 
Cherry, when he refers to the six morbid conditions 
which may be met with, as classified by himself in 
the terms following : 



LAMENESS OF HORSES 119 

" 1. Simple inflammation of the ligaments of the 
"joint; 

"2. Simple inflammation of the synovial membrane; 

" 3. Inflammation followed by deposit of osseous 
" matter consolidating or obliterating one or more of 
" the lower joints of the carpus. 

" 4. Inflammation extending to the articular carti- 
"lages or body of the bone or bones, terminating in 
"ulcerative absorption, accompanied with deposit 
" of osseous matter around the diseased portion. 

" 5. Ulceration, absorption of synovial membrane, 
"articular cartilage and body of the bone, either 
" together or separately, and progressing insidiously, 
"without showing any very marked symptom of 
" the diseased state of the joint, and which state is 
" considered to exist without the presence of inflam- 
" mation ; 

" 6. Combinations of the above. 

Our own observations, in the various post mortem 
examinations we have had the opportunity to con- 
duct, in cases of chronic carpitis, enable us to 
confirm the views of Mr. Cherry. If any of our 
readers would more thoroughly study the subject we 
would recommend them to consult the photo-litho- 
graphic illustrations accompanying the text of 
Williams, in the second edition of his " Surgery." 
They convey a very correct idea of the changes 



120 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

which characterize the carpus when under conditions 
of disease. 

All these conditions however, require time for 
their development, and while that process is in 
progress, the diagnosis of carpitis becomes a task 
of but little difficulty to the veterinarian. It is 
different, however, in respect to the acute stage. It 
is true that a careful examination of the suspected 
joint may detect a certain fullness of the articula- 
tion and a defectively defined condition of the bony 
prominence, or a largely increased rise of tempera- 
ture, or a certain soreness on manipulation, all of 
which may justify a conjecture of carpitis. But all 
the principal symptoms must be observed while the 
animal is in action, or when the knee is flexed. In 
travelling, the leg is carried forward in a direction as 
straight as possible, and, as remarked by all writers, 
with a slight movement of circumduction. When 
putting the foot down, the heels are made to touch 
the ground first, in order to throw the greater stress 
of the weight of the body on the tendons of the 
posterior part of the joint. According to Williams, 
there is a disinclination to canter, and Cherry says : 
"There is one other point of difference ; that is, in 
" the manner of going down or up rising ground. In 
{< carpitis the lameness is increased in descending 
"and mitigated on ascending ground." 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 121 

The disease may be observed in both legs at once, 
but appearance in a single limb is not unusual. In 
the latter case, the difference in " handling " the two 
sides will betray the fact. The horse will take a 
longer step with the lame leg than with the sound 
one — as remarked in another place, from an instinc- 
tive inclination to keep the lame limb from the 
ground as long as possible. Again, when the leg is 
under examination by the surgeon, and is forcibly 
placed in extreme flexion, the difficulty of holding it 
in that position, and the resistance of the patient, 
caused by the pain to which it subjects him cannot 
fail to betray the existing condition of the joint. 

In assigning a cause for this affection we must 
again refer to the catalogue of external injuries as 
principally instrumental in originating it, and repeat 
the enumeration made before. Carpitis may gener- 
ally, then, be attributed to bruises, speedy cuts, and 
contusions received in striking the leg against the 
manger while pawing in the stall, and ways inumer- 
able beside. Cherry holds that straight upright 
legs and short pasterns are predisposing causes, and 
thinks, also, that it is a matter of heredity, and sug- 
gests the point for the serious consideration of 
breeders. 

In the first stages of the disease, when the inflam- 
mation is comparatively acute, and but little patho- 



122 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

logical change has taken place, especially if the bony 
structure is not greatly involved, rest, local applica- 
tions, cooling lotions, warm embrocations, astrin- 
gents, or counter irritants of various power, with 
liniments or blisters, may to a certain extent relieve 
the patient. But if, on the contrary, changes have 
taken place in the bony structure, the actual cautery 
must be employed, and even after that, the result 
will depend on the degree of morbid tendency which 
the bones have acquired, either on their external or 
articular surfaces. 

BEOKEN KNEES. 

The broken knee is either a deep or a superficial 
injury of the skin of the anterior face of the joint, 
resulting almost universally from falls. "When the 
fore legs of the horse give way, either from accident 
or weakness, it is the knees, almost always then in 
a state of extreme flexion, with the skin tightly 
stretched over them, which first impinge upon the 
ground, not only while bearing the entire ordinary 
weight of the body, with that of the rider usually 
superimposed, but with the further increase of the 
momentum acquired by the gait of his travel, more 
or less rapid. Hence the frequency of wounds of 
this class, not only varying in gravity from a simple 
and slight abrasion of the e pidermis to the opening 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 123 

with or without loss of cutaneous substance, of one 
or other of the carpal joints, and more particularly 
of the carpo-carpals. The contributing elements 
which determine the degree of the wound are the 
rapidity of the gait at the moment of the accident, 
the weight borne by the animal, and the condition 
as to hardness and smoothness of the surface upon 
which the fall takes place. 

Falls occurring upon macadamised roads are at- 
tended with accidents of a more serious nature than 
those which occur upon other roadways, either 
because of the lacerating character which the wounds 
commonly assume, in consequence of the sharp and 
cutting qualities of the stones composing them, or 
from the liability of the animal, when the road is in 
good and smooth condition, to slide and rub the 
skin, drawn tensely over the overflexed joint, mak- 
ing the friction the cause of more injury than would 
have resulted from the impingement alone. 

The seriousness of this class of wounds is en- 
hanced by the fact that, occurring under the condi- 
tions by which they are usually accompanied, the 
skin covering the anterior face of the knee is nearly 
always to a greater or less extent destroyed, and 
even the tendinous sheathes, the ligaments, and at 
times, even the bones of the carpus become also 
involved. Knowing thus the external conditions of 



124 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

the formation of broken knees we must also con- 
sider the predisposing causes by which some ani- 
mals are rendered more liable than others to the 
lesion in question. 

Weak animals, whether feeble in consequence of 
excessive age or of extreme youth, or from inate 
lack of muscular power, or fatigued from overwork, 
are of course specially exposed to falls and their 
natural results. Bad conformations and deformities 
are also predisposing circumstances, and the list may 
be extended to include horses with sprung knees 
and those who stumble because of the extra length 
of the phalangeal joints, or from over-long feet, or 
bad shoeing. And withal, there are causes and con- 
ditions which need not be specified or enumerated, 
such as blindness, unskilled driving and pcor riding. 

The symptoms of broken knees vary with the 
depth of the injury. If superficial, they are like 
all similar wounds of the skin. But if the entire 
thickness of the skin is penetrated, and the subcuta- 
neous cellular tissue becomes involved, the lacera- 
tion may be extensive and the wound a serious one. 
In this case the secretion of the traumatic surface is 
more abundant than it ought to be, relatively to the 
apparent extent of the injury. It is of a sanious and 
albuminous appearance, and often appears as if 
foaming, at the edges of the wound, according as it 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 125 

is forced out by the movements of the joint, both of 
flexion and extension. Although often mistaken for 
articular synovia, it usually proceeds from the open 
subcutaneous mucous bursa. Its escape is accom- 
panied with no great amount of pain, while if the 
articular synovial membrane is involved, the pain is 
great and the lameness becomes excessive, neither 
rest or progression bringing any alleviation to the 
suffering. The nature of the injury is usually suf- 
ficiently obvious, but in a doubtful case, the ques- 
tion may be easily solved by direct exploration with 
either the finger or the probe. The diagnosis is then 
easy, but the exploration is not unattended with 
danger, and should be made with great caution, if at 

all. 

When it becomes evident that the true synovial 
sac has been opened, it then becomes important, in 
reference to the question of prognosis, to ascertain 
whether the seat of the lesion is one of the tendons 
which passes in front of the knee, or one of those 
which belong to one of the carpal joints. The lesion 
in some cases is sufficiently extensive to allow the 
easy settlement of this point, as when the articula- 
tion is open, the bones and the articular cavities are 
easily recognized. But at times it is otherwise, and 
the wound, though sufficiently large to permit the 
oscape of the synovia, is too small for ocular inspec- 



126 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

tiort. In these cases, the degree of the attendant 
pain becomes an important element of the case, and 
must be carefully studied. If the sufferings of the 
patient are evidently very severe, the inference will 
be in favor of a decision that the joint itself is the 
seat of injury. But if the pain is comparatively 
light and the patient, without much inconvenience, 
continues to bear a portion of his weight upon the 
foot, it becomes probable that the tendinous sacs 
alone are open. 

Tne cicatrices remaining on the skin after broken 
knees sometimes form a considerable disfigurement 
which of course must vary according to the form 
and dimensions of the primitive accident. Thus, 
when the skin has been only superficially injured, 
and only the epidermis lacerated, leaving the hair 
bulbs intact, the marks will be insignificant and may 
entirely disappear. But it sometimes occurs that 
though the hair bulbs are not destroyed, ytt their 
function has in some way become modified, and there 
is a consequent change in the color and even in the 
directions of the growth of the hair. And if the 
wound is deep, or in any case when there has been 
a positive loss of cutaneous substance, the cicatriza- 
tion will quite certainly leave a surface entirely 
denuded of its hairy covering, and there will remain 
a whitish or blackish eschar forming an indelible 



LAMENESSOF HORSES. 127 

blemish and ineffacably marking the site and partly 
the dimensions of the injury. 

Ordinary simple bruises over the knee need no 
special attention. Like hurts of the same degree in 
other parts of the body, if any curative means are 
used, common cooling applications will be sufficient. 

When there is laceration of the skin it is desira- 
ble, in bringing the edges of the wound together, to 
make the coaptation as perfect as possible. This 
can be effected only by a nice observation of the 
condition of the wound when applying the neces- 
sary aclhesives or bandages. The inevitable and 
uncontrollable motion of the parts involving the 
certainty of the tearing out of the stitches, and the 
complications which would follow the additional and 
aggravated injury, preclude the use of the sutures. 
Careful and repeated dressings are necessary, not 
only for the purpose of keeping the progress of the 
cicatrization under observation, but also in order to 
prevent excessive swelling, and to guard against 
chafing the back of the knee. 

When there is a suppurating surface, the wound 
should be dressed with digestive ointment, or any of 
the ordinary carbolized compounds. 

When there are open synovial tendinous or artic- 
ular bursa?, and the bones and tendons are exposed 
perfect rest and as great a degree of immobility as it 



128 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

is possible to attain, are the principal indications. 
For the latter purpose light splints at the back of 
the knee, well secured by bandages are advantage- 
ously used. The exigencies of the case must deter- 
mine the subsequent steps. An escape of synoyia 
must be treated in the same manner as an open joint, 
by stopping the flow with powdered bichloride of 
mercury or burnt alum. If there is disease of the 
bones, and an attack of arthritis seems imminent, 
the treatment which has already been indicated will 
again be applicable, with chances of recovery cor- 
responding with the extent of the bony lesion. 

But if the tendons which pass in front of the knee 
are torn the capsular ligament opened, and the 
bones fractured or seriously injured all expectations 
of recovery may be dismissed and the only humane 
and judicious disposition of the case becomes the 
destruction of the animal, without useless delay. 

HYGROMA OF THE KNEE— CAPPED KNEE. 

The front of the knee in large animals, and especi- 
ally in ruminants, is the common seat of a species of 
tumor, the serous bursa, which forms the peculiar 
aspect of the affected part, and from the similarity 
of the attendant pathological changes, has given rise 
to the term of capped knee, a term shared in common 



LAMENESS OF MORSES. 129 

with the capped elbow, already mentioned and the 
capped hock, which still remains to be described. 

To adopt the definition of Percivall, a knee may- 
be called " capped " when it presents on the fore 
11 part, a uniform swelling, having a soft, elastic feel 
" and having so long as it be recent, more heat than 
" the surrounding skin, though pressure fails to 
" show that it is any wise or any where painful, or 
"even tender." It is a common affection among 
horses, where it is susceptible of easy cure, and of 
still more frequent occurrence among cows, where it 
is sometimes reported as appearing in an enzootic 
form, and may result from many causes. Contusions, 
however received ; the pressure arising from decubi- 
tal posture in animals which lie on their knees; 
blows, if sufficiently violent ; striking the manger 
with the knees ; the swinging of the log at the end 
of the holder chain against the knees of horses accus- 
tomed to pawing in the stable ; the capped knee 
may be refered to all these, as mechanical causes, or, 
according to Percivall, it may have a pathological 
origin, as a dropsical or oedematious affecton of the 
limb, or rheumatic inflammation of the joint. 

The capped knee is a tumor of somewhat inde- 
finite description as to its consistency, being both 
somewhat hard and somewhat soft, with more or 
less surrounding tumefaction, and neither cool to 



130 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

the touch nor painful to the patient. And although 
from the lack of inflammatory action it cannot be 
said to be a cause of positive lameness, it offers an 
impediment to the free flexion of the joint, and in 
that manner causes a stiffness which occasions an 
irregularity in the gait of the animal ; rather from a 
mechanical than a pathological cause. 

But at times, and not unfrequently, it becomes 
inflamed and painful, and like the hygroma of the 
elbow, changes to the phlegmonous character, and 
ends in assuming fully the suppurative form. And 
again, as the cyst is usually multilocular, it may 
become the seat of an organized plastic exudation 
which at length establishes itself on the front of 
the knee in the shape of a fixed tumor, which though 
not very hard in its consistency is found exceedingly 
difficult to dislodge. 

All these circumstances, considered with the pos- 
sibility of such a termination always in reserve, it 
will be seen that a ready and confident prognosis in 
a case of capped knee is by no means a matter of 
easy attainment in any case, and it becomes all the 
less easy when a horse is the patient. 

There is no necessity for hasty interference in this 
affection, inasmuch as the exemption of the patient 
from the influence of originating causes is often 
sufficient to insure a spontaneous recovery, without 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 131 

any active medication. It still remains true, how- 
ever, that the use of cooling, astringent and seda- 
tive applications, will often prove highly beneficial. 
Pressure by bandages or with sponges, has also 
given excellent results, and these failing, counter irri- 
tants, blisters, alteratives, and the actual cauteiy 
become efficacious. If the disease resists this anti- 
phlogistic treatment, and the tumor assumes an 
inflammatory character, suppuration may be antici- 
pated, and the early pointing of the abscess should 
be encouraged. When this takes place the escape 
of the pus should be assisted by a free incision and 
left to granulate and heal. An early date is prefered 
for this by some writers, while others supplement it 
with the seton, and others again with injections of a 
weak solution of tincture of iodine. The danger of 
causing ulceration of the sheath of the entensor 
tendons, suggests caution in resorting to this. The 
escape of the synovial fluid will reveal this compli- 
cation when it occurs. 

HYDRARTHROSIS OF THE KNEE. 

TENDINOUS SYNOVITIS OF THE KNEE. TENDINOUS THOR- 
OUGHPIN. 

The resemblance of this disease, as it affects the 
knee, to the same affection as found in the hock, the 



132 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

thorouglipin of English writers, justifies our ado]> 
tion of the same term for application to both joints 
alike. The tendinous thorouglipin, or hydrarthrosis 
of the knee is constituted by either a dropsical con- 
dition of the synovial sheaths which facilitate the 
sliding of the extensor tendons upon the anterior 
face of the knee, or by the dilatation of the carpal 
tendinous synovial sheath on its posterior face. The 
synovial sacs of the extensor tendons assist their 
action in gliding in the sheaths formed at the expense 
of the common anterior ligament of the carpus. 
They sometimes communicate with the articular 
capsules, an important peculiarity to consider in 
view of the danger attending their opening. The 
flexor tendons, as they pass through the carpal arch 
are surrounded by a vaginal synovial sac, which by 
reflecting upon the tendons forms, above and below^ 
two cul-de-sacs, which are rendered more prominent 
by the occurrence of a dropsical condition of the 
synovial capsules. The superior cul-de-sac runs at 
the side of the flexor muscles, as high as the lower 
quarter of the radius, while the inferior surrounds 
the perforatus and the perforans tendons, and ex- 
tends downard as far as the superior third of the 
metacarpus. 

Hydrarthroses of the knees are situated along the 
tract of the tendons of both the flexors and extens 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 133 

sors of the phalanges, where they constitute tumors 
anterior and posterior. The posterior gives rise, 
behind the carpus, to two tumors of unequal size, 
the external being much more voluminous than the 
internal. It is of an oval form and situated on 
each side, between the radius and flexor muscles of 
the metacarpus, nearer to the muscles than to the 
bone. It is more elongated superiorly, and extends 
downward below the knee, as an elongated mass, 
irregular on its surface, and somewhat bosselated 
according to the pressure of the anatomical struc- 
ture of the region. There is considerable variation 
in the dimensions of these hydrarthrosis, and they 
possess a tendency, according to Bouley, to indura- 
tion of the walls, with even a possibility of of ossi- 
fication. 

The dilatation of the tendinous sheaths of the 
extensor tendons may give rise to tumors of various 
size, small at first, and elongated, along the course 
of the tendons but becoming much larger, and 
sometimes uniting together and communicating with 
the articular capsular sac. The walls usually 
become ossified and the cavity frequently contains 
floating bodies. They are distinguished by the 
depth at which they are found from the hygroma, 
which is always superficial. 

In the treatment of this form of tendinous dropsy, 



134: LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

needle canterization is recommended, and tincture of 
iodine injections are of service, but this refers to 
the posterior tumors only, their use in those situated 
anteriorly being precluded by the danger of estab- 
lishing communication with the articular synovial 
capsule. The deep or needle cauterization is with- 
out doubt, the most efficacious and lest hazardous 
of all modes of treatment. 

The dimensions sometimes attained by posterior 
thorough-pin of the knee are too great to consist 
with the possibility, or in any case, to justify any 
thing like a hope of recovery. Yet a case in our 
own practice, in which the fore arm, the knee and 
the upper portion of the canon were involved, and in 
such a condition of deformity from the enormous 
dilatation of the tendinous carpal sac, as to cause 
much hesitation in regard to the indication most 
expedient to adopt, yielded to a treatment which 
consisted in puncturing the tumor in various places* 
and vigorously applying the blistering process, until 
the mass was reduced to dimensions so compara- 
tively insignificant that it no longer incapacitated 
the patient from resuming his labors. 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 135 

SPEEDY CUT. 

The reader is referecl to another page for the con- 
sideration of this ailment as we consider it one of 
the forms of interfering treated among the injuries of 
the fetlock. 

SPRUNG KNEES. 

In this defective condition of the anterior limbs 
the horse stands with the kneo partly flexed, so that 
a line from the fore arm to the fetlock, instead of 
falling perpendiculary, forms a curve with the con- 
vexity looking forwards. Such a condition may 
exist in varying degrees, from that of the slightest 
departure from a symmetrical posture to a variation 
so extreme as almost to cause a disability to bear 
the weight of the body, and to subject the animal to 
constant danger of falling. Though they may be at 
times a congenital infirmity, they are usually the 
result of old age, excessive labor or hard work 
imposed too early on young animals; or they may 
result from actual disease of the articulation. An 
attack of arthritis, a large carpal thorough-pin, an 
exostosis of the carpal bones, or even disease of the 
lower part of the leg may by degrees, and with time 
become the cause of this change in the direction of 
the long bones of the leg, by the retraction of the 
fibrous cord of the flexor brachii inserted in the 



136 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

aponeurosis of the radial region, as suggested by 
some authors, but more usually by the retraction of 
the flexors of the knee joint proper i. e., the external 
and oblique flexor metatarsi. 

With sprung knees, the animal loses a great deal 
of solidity and strength as to the motive function, is 
deficient in general activity, and even becomes 
liable to frequent falls. The horse, more than any 
other animal, is subject to this infirmity, and though 
he may not always be entirely disabled from labor, 
which is compatible with slow movements, he is 
of course quite unfitted for rapid travelling, and 
especially unfitted for such a function as that of a 
light carriage or a saddle horse. In the last named 
capacity his employment would be quite inconsistent 
with the safety of his rider. Scarcely another infir- 
mity, whatever congenital or acquired, so depreciates 
the value of the horse as this malformation. 

The question of treatment for sprung knees has 
long been one of interest among veterinarians, and 
from the importance of the subject has naturally 
elicited a large amount of discussion, and the sug- 
gestion of a wide variety of methods for the relief 
of the difficulty, but for the most part, hitherto with- 
out the development of any practicable or satisfac- 
tory result. When they are the result of congenital 
weakness, or are brought on by labor imposed at 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 137 

too early a period of life, a run in the pasture for a 
few months will sometimes be of service. Blisters 
have been recommended, especially in cases of 
weakness of the joints. For very young colts splints 
have been tried. But usually, if any relief has been 
secured, it has been of a mere temporary duration, 
and the deformity has returned with the discontinu- 
ance of the treatment for help, and the renewal of 
the labor of the patient. 

When orthopedic appliances and shoeing prove 
insufficient for the remedy of the evil, the most 
promising means of attaining the object is the oper- 
ation of tenotomy, either by the section of the band 
of the coraco-radialis, or better still, of the tendons 
of the flexor metacarpi. The first is an old opera- 
tion, recommended by Solleysel and Lafosee, but 
which has proved unsuccessful in the hands of Del- 
ward and others. The other, usually known as car- 
pal tenotomy, consists in the division of the tendons 
of the external and middle flexors of the metacarpus. 
It is simple in its various steps, and considering the 
good results which have followed it, it is somewhat 
remarkable that it has not been oftener performed. 

Although the origin of this operation is a matter 
of some obscurity, it is from German writers that 
our knowledge of it is first derived. Dietrichs and 
Hering have performed it with success, Brogniez 



138 LAMENESS, OF HORSES. 

was one of the first to put it to the test. By his 
method the tendons are divided transversely with a 
narrow bistoury, after being exposed by means of a 
longitudinal incision made above the trapezium. 
The disposition of the wound thus made, to assume 
the granulating process, from which trouble some- 
times arose, from an indisposition to heal readily, 
suggested a change in the method of manipulation, 
and the adoption of the subcutaneous plan. 

The modus operandi to which we give the prefer- 
ence over those generally recommended by Gourdon, 
Peuch, Toussaint and others, is very simple. The 
animal being thrown, on the side opposite to that of 
the operation, a rope is placed on the upper end of 
the fore arm and another at the lower end of the 
canon, and both are pulled in different directions, in 
order to hold the leg in extreme extension at the 
knee. The operator, who is placed in front of the 
knee, feels for the separation which exists between 
the two muscles as they are about to unite. This 
being found, a straight tenotomy knife is introduced 
from before backward about two inches above the 
superior border of the trapezium, through the skin 
and under the thickness of the oblique or middle 
flexor of the metacarpus. When the point of this 
knife is felt on the other border of the muscle, the 
curved tenotomy knife is introduced into the wound, 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 139 

while the straight one is carefully drawn out and 
then the tendon is easily divided by bringing the 
sharp edge of the instrument across the tense tend- 
inous fibres. This muscle being cut, about one inch 
nearer to the border of the bone, the pointed tenot- 
omy knife is introduced from behind forward on the 
posterior border of the external flexor, under its 
thickness, until the point of the instrument is felt 
on the anterior border, when the curved instrument 
is again introduced, and the division of the tendons 
performed, as in the case of the first muscle. 

A light bandage, antiseptics and rest for about 
three weeks is all that is necessary. No hemorrhage, 
but little swelling, in fact, no accident of a serious 
nature has as yet been recorded. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE POSTERIOR LEG. 

HIP JOINT. 

Diagnosis. — The formation of an acurate diagnosis 
in cases of lameness which appear to implicate the 
hip joint is not the least of the difficulties which are 
incident to veterinary practice. To comprehend this 
implied difficulty, the complex anatomy of the joint 
the strength and compactness of the connecting tis- 
sues which combine to unite and consolidate the 
various parts of the structure ; and the volume and 
power of the thick muscles which cover it and con- 
trol its action, must all be taken into consideration. 
It naturally follows from the operation of the same 
elements that the lesions which usually become the 
originating causes of lameness are of rare occur- 
rence in the hip joint proper. This fact is amply 
confirmed by the statement of Bouley, whose statis- 
tics, if we accept them as authentic, prove that out 
of every hundred cases of lameness in the posterior 
limbs of the horse, at least ninety are referable to 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 141 

lesions of the hock. The facility with which errors 
of diagnosis may occnr when the seat of an existing 
lameness is too confidently located in the hip joint, 
may be easily inferred from this fact. 

Still, with careful observation, a true diagnosis, 
even if but rarely accomplished, is attainable, and 
especially when inflammation can be certainly indi- 
cated in the joint proper. The serious changes 
which accompany and characterize that condition 
cannot easily evade observation. 

Disease of the synovial capsule, softening and dis- 
organization of ligaments, ulceration of the carti- 
lage, necrosis of the bones — in a word, all the lesions 
to which the human formation is subject, when suf- 
fering with an attack of morbus coxarius, may in 
like manner, affect the lower animals. An interest- 
ing fact in this connection is here in point. The ex- 
treme pain attending this disease in the human sub- 
ject, and its disabling interference with the function 
of locomotion, are matters of common knowledge, 
and yet, we have met with a large number of cases 
in which this acute suffering and the accompanying 
excessive lameness have quite escaped observation, 
notwithstanding the fact that both the acetabulum 
and the head of the femur have been both diseased. 
It is only in cases where the lesions of the bones 
are extensive, and the articulation proper largely 



142 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

involved, that a severe form of lameness exists, or 
great pain appears to be present. 

It is not alone the joint proper that may become 
the seat of disease. The ligaments, the tendons of 
the gluteal muscles, and these muscles themselves; 
the bones, and especially the great trochanter, may 
each become the seat of lesion. Yet too often these 
are all comprehensively considered, and indiscrimin- 
ately referred to by the single term of hip joint 
lameness, or sprain of the hip. 

The causes which are likely to result in sprains of 
the hip are sliding or falling on slippery ground, 
when the hind legs are suddenly thrown into extreme 
abduction, or indood any violent effort, accompanied 
by powerful muscular contraction, or laceration of 
the soft structures at the joint, as when an animal 
has been cast for an operation, and kept continu- 
ously in a strained posture ; or the strain of his 
resistance while being placed in the stocks for a 
similar purpose ; or his opposition to the pressure of a 
heavy load while descending a declivity, and the like. 

Hip lameness is not uncommonly associated with 
rheumatic disease, and it may also occur as a symp- 
tomatic affection in distemper, in glanders, or in 
farcy : and it is affirmed by Percivall that " foals and 
calves are occasionally subject to scrofulous inflam- 
mation of the hip joint." 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES 143 

But although the symptoms of hip lameness are 
not always readily subject to distinct characteriza- 
tion ; and in this lies the principal difficulty of diag- 
nosis, it is still true, as before intimated, that by a 
careful scrutiny of the movements of the patient, 
under varying circumstances of repose and activity, 
a true location of the seat of the lesion may, in not 
a few instances, be positively determined. It will, 
however, only be as the reward of a thorough and 
intelligent analysis of existing pathological phe- 
nomena. 

Among the signs to be studied are these : 
There is a restrain in the action of the joint in 
walking, and the free forward and backward motion 
of nature is lacking, leaving, on the contrary, a dis- 
cernible hesitation and stiffness, accompanying the 
displacement of the thigh, and a consequent shorten- 
ing of the step on the affected side. There may 
also, besides this, be a certain gesture of abduction, 
or rather a suggestion of circumduction, similar to 
that which may be observed in lameness of the 
shoulder. But inasmuch as this style of movement 
may also occur in association with other affections, 
such as enlargement of the spermatic cord, or disease 
of the inguinal ganglions^ or of the testicles, it must 
be remembered that it is not pathognomonic, and 
that the absence of these affections must be duly 



144 LAMENESS OF HOMES. 

accepted as an important element of the case. This 
is specially to be noted in respect to the abduction 
movement referred to. As a fact to be duly weighed, 
it must be noted that this feature is not always dis- 
tinctly seen while the animal is walking, and becomes, 
at times, conspicuous only when the gait is increased 
to a trot, when its discovery becomes much easier. 
Percivall and Williams thus allude to this circum- 
" stance : There is a hop and a catch in the movement 
" of the lame limb, which to the practiced eye pretty 
" clearly show the lameness to be in the hip. The 
" whole of the quarter on the lame side is elevated 
" with as little motion of the hip as possible ; the 
" other articulations being flexed with ease." The 
presence of pain may also be betrayed by a move- 
ment of the leg up and down, and though it may not 
be of a lancinating character, it is yet sufficiently 
expressive of the inability of the animal to carry 
weight. Manipulations of the joint are not a little 
serviceable as a means of forming a judgement, 
in respect to the hip, as well as in the shoulder, 
though it is more difficult to produce the necessary 
excessive movement in the former than in the latter, 
and possibly, the result, even when there is an evi- 
dent experience of pain, is not equally positive. 
Percussion over the joint, or pressure of the bones 
one against the other, will often, we believe, assist ip 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 145 

the diagnosis . Yariations of temperature over the 
joint, and a careful comparison of the dimensions of 
the two sides has sometimes proved more than 
sufficient to fix the locality of the ailment. An 
examination per rectum, according to Williams, may 
cause a manifestation of pain from pressure on the 
joint. Exercise upon soft ground, involving an 
increased demand upon the muscular resources as 
compared with that upon a hard surface, where only 
a minimum of force is required, will easily determine 
whether the suspected joint is abnormally sensitive. 

Atrophy of the muscles has sometimes been con- 
sidered as a valuable symptom. But if this is not an 
unfrequent, it still is but a deceptive one. It must 
be born in mind that it maybe in fact but the result 
of the non-use of the joint, arising from a state of 
rest induced by the presence of other lesions, exis- 
ting in regions remote from the hip, as spavins, ring 
bones, injuries of the feet, etc. 

Prognosis. — The prognosis of hip lameness is usu- 
ally a serious one. The tenacity of the disorder 
and its resistance to treatment concur in rendering 
it liable to an increased persistency and confirmed 
obstinacy, greater or less, according to the special 
features and the extent of the lesions. 

Treatment. — The treatment of hip lameness must 
be varied according to circumstances. But it must 



146 LAMENESS OF MOUSES. 

include the essential condition of rest, which must 
always be as complete as can be attained, even to 
complete immobilization, when that is possible. 
Both the cold douche and the warm fomentations are 
recommended in the beginning of treatment, but the 
wiser course is to avoid the loss of time involved in 
these palliative expedients, and to proceed without 
delay to the use of more effective and reliable meas- 
ures. Among the more reliable remedies are the 
stimulating liniments, applied with friction, such as 
tincture of camphor, ammoniacal liniment, oil of 
turpentine and tincture of cantharadis. One class 
of practitioners give the preference to charges and 
blisters varying in strength, and applied in succes- 
sion, until a good effect is produced, and they claim 
favorable results. Caustic trochisci, rowels, setons 
crossing and intersecting one another, as in shoulder 
lameness, have also their advocates. The actual 
cautery, both in dots and lines, is favored by not a 
few, and the blemishes which follow this severe 
treatment, are visible in a sufficient number of re- 
covered patients to testify to its popularity and pre- 
valence among practitioners. The use of canteriza- 
tion by Professor De Nanzio, of Naples, may be 
mentioned, but not, as we think, with strong recom- 
mendation. 
Professor Williams advises the use of a high 



LAMENESS OF MOUSES. U1 

heeled shoe, designed to assist the parts in main- 
taining a position of repose. But on the contrary, 
the treatment of Luchow endorsed by Hertwig and 
Delwart, has also shown excellent results, and 
though we cannot truly endorse the theory upon 
which it is founded, we describe it as being applica- 
ble to the same form of disease in both the shoulder 
and hip. It will be seen at once that the plan is 
contrary to all generally received suggestions in 
respect to the treatment of lameness of the nature 
of that which we are considering, in favoring forced 
exercise and excessive motion, in common with the 
cold affusions of hydrotherapy. The modus operandi f 
is thus described in the " Repertoire de Medecine Vet: 
erinaire de Belgique :" 

" Hydrotherapy has been advantageously used in 
" the treatment of shoulder lameness by a German 
" veterinarian, Luchow. This treatment, which is 
" applicable as well to hip lameness, consists in cov- 
" ering the animal with a hood and double blankets 
" and rubbing the deceased joint with a mixture of 
" liquor ammonia and spirits of turpentine, of each 
" one part, and camphorated alcohol and tincture of 
" soap, of each one and a half parts. The friction is 
" ended when the skin is covered with a light foam. 
" The animal is then exercised, to the plate longe, turn- 
" ing on the sound leg, and when in a profuse per- 



148 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

" spiration is returned to the stable, where notwith- 
" standing this sweating condition, the lame joint is 
" covered with thick compress, wet with cold water. 
" This is changed every, two hours. The last one is 
" removed the next day. During eight days the 
'' animal, well blanketed, is walked for half an hour. 
" As the animal improves, the gait is increased. 
" Eecovery is ordinarily complete after two or three 
" weeks." 

There is however, another form of hydrotherapic 
treatment, which has proved more successful in both 
chronic and recent cases of hip lameness ; it is the 
use of cold water, either in douches or in sprays, it 
is immaterial which, if only a certain degree of force 
accompanies the contacts. 

STIFLE JOINT 

The stifle joint, which is a very complicated appar- 
atus, is formed by the articular surfaces of three 
bones, and constituting almost two distinct joints, 
the femoro-tibial and the femoro-patellar, all the 
various elements being mutually united, adapted 
and strengthened through the medium of inter-artic- 
ular menisci, fibrous pads added to articular sur- 
faces, with inter-articular and surrounding funicular 
ligaments. Although from the fact of this compli- 
cation of construction it might be inferred that 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 149 

injuries would be of easy and frequent occurrence at 
this point, yet the truth is that the literature of this 
subject is exceedingly meager and imperfect. That 
sprains and lacerations of the ligamentous attach- 
ments must occasionally occur, cannot be doubted, 
or that the bones and their articular surfaces must 
undergo the various changes naturally incident to 
the osseous structure when in a pathological condi- 
tion, implicating the joints, of course . So much is 
evident from the developments of post mortem 
investigations in cases of inflammation and ulcera- 
tion, and of bony desposites — all of which have been 
found, essential pathological lesions, which must 
necessarily have occasioned a greater or less degree 
of lameness. Notwithstanding all this, however, the 
writings of veterinary authors are nearly silent upon 
the subject. 

The external manifestations of injuries of the 
stifle-joint are exceedingly obscure, although it is 
true that swelling of the entire joint, with an un- 
usual heat, and perhaps soreness on lateral pressure, 
must naturally suggest this point, as the seat of 
disease. The position of the animal while at rest is 
corroborative of this suggestion. Standing with the 
limb flexed, the thigh upon the pelvis and the tibia 
upon the femur, it is obviously, an attitude which 
the animal would instinctively assume in order to 



150 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

avoid the painful pressure of the bones against each 
other. In referring to this, Williams says : " there 
" is then, when the animal is called to move, a 
" peculiar condition, by which extension succeeds to 
" this semi-flexion, which is the consequence of the 
" rigidly extented state of the stifle, and as a result 
" the heel of the foot strikes the ground first." 

This semi-flexion of the entire leg appears to be 
one of the most essential symptoms of disease of 
the stifle. But the motion ; the difficulty attending 
the flexion of the joint, with its tendency rather to 
the opposite condition of extension ; the occasional 
dragging of the toe on the ground ; sometimes the 
associated suggestion of a slight circumductory 
sweep ; and with these, soreness on pressure, with 
heat and swelling, readily discovered by the touch 
— considered together, this group of appearances 
furnishes quite sufficient evidence of the presence of 
disease of the femoro-tibial or femoro-patellar articu- 
lation. 

Out of numerous post mortem examinations of 
the stifle joint made by us, we have in but very few 
instances discovered the series of lesions commonly 
met with in arthritis. Indeed, comparatively very 
few cases of lameness in this articulation, from any 
cause, have fallen under our practical observation, 
and we feel justified by a large experience, in affirm- 



LAMENESS OF HORSES 151 

ing our conviction that notwithstanding the many 
conditions of exposure to injuries incident to its sit- 
uation and its functions, such injuries or lesions are 
in any case of very rare occurrence. And it is our 
further conviction that when they are encountered, 
the wisest and most promising indication of treat- 
ment will be fulfilled — as we have before mentioned, 
in respect to the treatment of lameness generally — 
in long rest, with a good deal of non-interference. 

HYDRARTHROSIS OF THE STIFLE. 

The motions of the joint are assisted by three syn- 
ovial capsules, one pertaining to the femur and the 
patella, or the femoro-patellar, and two connecting 
the condyles of the femur and the facettes of the 
tibia. Although these synovial sacs do not often 
assume a dropsical condition, still they do at times 
become thus affected, and quite extensively tume- 
fied in consequence. This assumes the form of a 
soft tumor on the anterior face of the stifle, in front 
of the patella, and is developed somewhat more 
inwardly than outwardly. The appearance of the 
tumor itself furnishes the first intimation of the 
existence of the lesion. If, of considerable size, this 
may seriously interfere wi'th the movement of the 
joint, and produce a marked and troublesome lame- 
ness. 



152 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

Caution must be observed in order to avoid the 
error of confounding this tumefied condition with an 
apparent enlargement sometimes observed in a 
healthy stifle, when the animal is seen standing in 
an easy position, but with the limb semi-flexed, as 
may occasionally take place. The flexion of the 
joint is very much interfered with, in hydrarthrosis, 
in consequence of the incompressibility of the con- 
fined liquid, and when this is the case there will be 
a marked peculiarity in the style of walking, the 
animal either dragging the leg or carrying the foot 
forward by a single movement to the spot where it 
is to be set down. 

The liability of this disease to result in an enor- 
mous enlargement of the joint is among its most 
serious dangers. To relieve this condition resort 
must chiefly be had to blistering or to the cantery, 
the application of the latter by deep penetrating 
points. The puncture of the tumor with a fine tro- 
car, followed by fine cauterization through the skin, 
and the application of a layer of cantharides oint- 
ment has produced advantageous results. Ointment 
of bichromate of potash is also advocated, though 
not in preference to the actual cantery. 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 153 

HYGEOMA. 

A large collection of this nature which came under 
our own observation, enables us to present an au- 
thentic description of this affection. It appeared in 
the form of a very large, soft, fluctuating tumor, in 
front and somewhat on the inside of the stifle, and 
of a shape somewhat elongated in its supero-infe- 
rior diameter. Though not painful to the touch, it 
interfered greatly with the function of locomotion, 
in consequence of its bulk alone. After treating it 
outwardly by the application of mild absorbants 
and the cold water douche, we decided upon more 
thorough measures, and proceeded to empty the 
tumor of its entire contents, by means of the aspi- 
rator. The result of this operation was the removal 
of fifty-two ounces of a thin, slightly albuminous, 
yellow fluid, and the sac having nearly refiled, a 
repetition of the puncture the day following, with 
the discharge of twenty-six ounces more. The tro- 
car of the aspirator was then left in the opening, 
and about six ounces of a very weak aqueous solu- 
tion of tincture of iodine injected into the cavity. 
The injected fluid was not suffered to remain in the 
sac, but after being brought by means of the mas- 
sage process, into contact with all parts of the inte- 
rior surface, was withdrawn through the trocar, by 



154 LAMENESS OF HORSES, 

the aspirator, in the same manner in whicii the orig- 
inal fluid was removed. Further treatment being 
now intermitted, the parts became the seat of a flat 
swelling, slightly warm and somewhat painful, until 
a few days subsequently, when a return of the serous 
collection became manifest. A third puncture, and 
the removal of about four ounces more of fluid, fol- 
lowed by a second injection of diluted tincture of 
iodine completed the recovery. A slight swelling 
which had remained disappeared after a few days 
and the animal was returned to his work. 

CRAMPS OF THE PATELLAR MUSCLES. 

A true luxation of the patella consists in a dis- 
placement of the bone, either inwardly or outwardly, 
from the femoral trochlea, and this cannot take 
place upon the femur, unless the ligaments which 
unite them are either lacerated or extremely elon- 
gated. Such a lesion would be necessarily accom- 
panied with either swelling of the stifle, inflamma- 
tion of the joint, or arthritis, and would necessitate 
a careful and protracted course of treatment. But 
these conditions are not those which characterize 
the case which is commonly described as a " stifle 
out of place." 

There is however, a condition which may result 
in a simulated, or pseudo dislocation of the patella, 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 155 

and is the effect of cramps of the muscles of the 
stifle, which produce a physiological displacement 
of the patella, with a corresponding lameness, and 
having peculiar characteristics of its own. 

The experimental observations and researches of 
Mr. Yiolet have proved that this pseudo dislocation 
of the patella is simply the arrest and lodgement of 
the bone upon the upper end of the internal hip of 
the femoral trochlea. This part being well fitted by 
its peculiar formation to prevent the patella from 
sliding back over the rim and being drawn down- 
wards to its normal place, then becomes fixed in its 
new position by the irregular and violent contrac- 
tions of the muscles involved in the abnormal 
tension. 

The main symptom to which this condition gives 
rise is essentially characteristic. It is a sudden rig- 
idity of one or other of the hinder extremities, so 
extreme and extensive that the entire limb assumes 
the appearance of an inflexible bar throughout its 
entire length. This symptom may become manifest 
both in and out of the stable, either while the ani- 
mal is rising up, or possibly even while he is simply 
in the act of moving backward and forward in his 
stall. When compelled to move, the act is performed 
without visible flexion, either at the stifle or the 
hock, both joints having become wholly immobilized. 



1B6 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

In that condition, as Bouley and Nocard remark, 
"femur and tibia, tibia and metatarsus, form but 
" one single stiff rod, and so the foot cannot be 
" raised from the ground, the flexion of the phalan- 
" ges takes place by the anterior face of the foot, 
•' which drags on the ground, with its plantar sur- 
" face turned backward, and as a consequence, the 
" hip is lowered in proportion." 

In this condition the act of walking is accomp- 
lished only with great difficulty and by violent 
exertions, as the suffering animal testifies, intelligibly 
enough, by his anxious countenance, his dilated 
nostrils and his hurried respiration. On examining 
the stifle, a deformity soon appears, on the outside, 
at its superior part, in the form of a hard, resisting 
prominence. This is the dislocated patella. The 
lameness characteristic of this lesion is strictly inter- 
mittent. It disappears at once when the patellar 
slides back into its place, but returns immediately 
whenever the obstruction again interferes with the 
proper downward motion. It may return to its 
proper location by a spontaneous action, or it may 
require the interference of the surgeon for its reduc- 
tion, In either case, however, immobility of the 
stifle and hock joints disappears at once, as the 
patella glides, back over the femur, their flexion 
being re-established without pain or stiffness. The 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 15? 

essential causes of this peculiar lesion are considered 
by Yiolet to be either the spasmodic contraction, or 
cramp of the inferior fibres of the internal vastus, or 
a paralysis, soreness, or weakness of a portion of the 
superficial glutens. 

Whatever may be the explanation of their phenome- 
na, their occurrence is most common in young colts, 
and in horses from four to five years old, and espe- 
cially during convalescence after prostrated and 
debilitating diseases ; after attacks of distemper, 
influenza, etc., and after excessive exertion following a 
long inactivity. "Williams speaks of their occurrence 
as supervening upon attacks of indigestion, and as 
yielding to one or two doses of purgative medicine. 

In view of the nature of some of the originating 
causes of patella displacement which have been 
referred to, the suggestion naturally presents itself, 
of the practicability and value of preventive meas- 
ures, and one of the most important and obvious of 
these would seem to be suitable and continuous 
exercise, by which the animal would escape the 
danger of a sudden change from protracted rest to 
sudden and violent labor. 

The curative treatment consists, of course, in 
replacing the dislocated bone from its abnormal to 
its normal position, and preventing, if possible, a 
recurrence of the luxation. 



158 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

In fulfilling the first indication the leg is brought 
into excessive extension, either by an assistant, or 
with the aid of a rope, while the surgeon, placed 
towards the back of the animal forcibly pushes the 
patella forward and inward. When the luxation is 
successfully reduced the fact is known by a peculiar 
sound, accompanied by a sudden jerking of the leg 
and the simultaneous flexion of the stifle and of the 
hock. But although, when the bone is once returned 
it will frequently maintain its position, the trouble 
may recur after walking a few steps, and the process 
of reduction may become necessary a second, end 
even a third time. The question of preventive 
treatment becomes, therefore, one of interest and 
importance. Stimulating frictions are recommended, 
with this view, and are practised with embrocations 
of various degrees of strength, from the mildest lin- 
iment to the most energetic blistering. Sometimes 
when the surgeon finds his manipulations over the 
joint insufficient, soothing medications, chloroform, 
and opiates over the muscles of the femur, are said 
to be beneficial, while again, severe showering 
douches, or hot fomentations have relieved when all 
other means had failed. 

In our own experience we have always observed 
that good results have followed moderate exercise 
immediately after the reduction, and very often the 



LAMENESS OF HORSES, 159 

simple fact of turning the patient loose in a large 
box stall has been sufficent to prevent a return of 
the difficulty., even when the displacement had pre- 
viously disappeared and returned intermitingly, 
while the patient was kept in a single stall. 

The subcutaneous section of the internal tibio- 
patellar ligament has been recommended as a last 
resort, by Italian veterinarians, and seems to have 
been recognized as good practice by Professor Noc- 
ard, who states that it has been performed several 
times, and has been followed by complete success. 

To whatever originating causes these displace- 
ments may be due, we must look in that direction 
for the suggestion of the reasons which offer them- 
selves for surgical interference, when that seems to 
be indicated. With this view, and for the further 
illustration of the subject, the relation of a case 
which occurred in our experience, and which we 
reported in 1885, in the American Veterinary Review, 
may possess a value. The favorable result which 
followed in that special case would fully justify us 
in again employing the same remedial means, if the 
opportunity were again to present themselves. The 
record of the case was made by Dr. Eyder, House 
Surgeon of the American Veterinary College Hos- 
pital, and is as follows : 



160 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

LUXATION OF THE PATELLA OF SEVERAL MONTHS STAND- 
ING. — DIVISION OF THE LONG VASTUS 
MUSCLE.— RECOVERY. 

Description and History. — A brown stallion, three 
years old, had been in training at the Long Branch 
race ground, when about the middle of May he was 
found in his stall with his off hind leg extended 
backwards, unable to carry it forward, and moving 
with great difficulty. "When the door of his stall 
was opened, he fell down, and it was with great dif- 
ficulty that he regained his feet. A veterinarian was 
called who made the diagnosis of sprain of the an- 
terior tibial muscles, and treated him for that lesion 
until the end of July, when the owner had him 
brought to the hospital in an ambulance. 

Condition at Admission. — The animal being unable 
to back from the conveyance in which he was moved, 
was turned and led out. He was a fine looking colt, 
and in good condition. In walking he carried his 
off hind leg in excessive extension, first backward, 
then by a sudden movement of abduction bringing 
it forward without any flexion of the leg below the 
coxo-femoral articulation. The muscles of the ante- 
rior crural region, and especially the fascia lata, 
seemed to be atrophied. Those of the gluteal were 
much smaller on that side. As the animal arrived 
late in the evening he was placed in a stall and left 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 161 

until the next morning for more careful examina- 
tion. 

On the 29th. he was with difficulty, backed, or 
rather, pushed back from his stall. He was in the 
same condition, and had not laid down during the 
night, the off leg was then seized by an assistant, 
brought well forward, and held in that position, 
while by manipulations and pressure upon the exter- 
nal face of the patellar from behind forward, the 
bone was felt slipping from under the hand, and 
with a sharp cracking sound, returned to its place. 
— The leg flexed suddenly, and the animal, being 
led forward, more freely, with perfect flexion of the 
stifle joint : but as soon as the pressure of the hand 
ceased, and the animal had made two or three steps, 
the same condition returned, of extentions of the 
limb inability to walk. —This was repeated several 
times with like results. — 

The ordinary simple treatment of hot fomentations 
being considered of little advantage in a case of 
such standing, a severe blister was applied over the 
joint, extending a great distance all around. The 
effects of the application seemed to be, at first, 
satisfactory. An enormous swelling took place ; the 
scabs of the blister formed a firm bandage, but the 
result was nevertheless negative. No improvement 
was obtained ; the leg remains in the same condition, 



162 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

perhaps a little worse, as it then became very diffi- 
cult to obtain a temporary abduction of the dislo- 
cation, as had been done at first. Having been 
allowed to walk loose in a large box stall, to wait 
the removal of the scabs of the blister, he was on the 
15th of August, returned to a single stall and 
hobbles where placed upon the legs of the lateral 
bipeds. The dislocation was again reduced, and 
though he was kept in that uncomfortable position 
for three days, still no satisfactory result was 
obtained. — 

The case then assumed a very unfavorable aspect. 
The leg was becoming excessively atrophied, the 
animal began to loose flesh, his appetite became poor 
and everything seemed to indicate a failure to 
relieve him. 

It was then that the propriety of the operation of 
subcutaneous myotomy suggested itself, and with the 
sanction of the owner was performed, on the 9th of 
September, by Dr. Liautard. Having been given a 
dose of chloral, and being kept under restraint with 
a twitch, a small incision was made at the lower bor- 
der of the anterior part of the triceps femoris, and a 
curved blunt bistoury about three inches long intro- 
duced under the skin, when its sharp edge was turned 
on the muscle. The division of the fibres was 
plainly heard and when the muscle was thought to be 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 163 

entirely divided, the animal was allowed to go, the 
patella having returned at once to its position, but 
to be followed again by another immediate displace- 
ment. After waiting a few days for the healing of 
the parts, which occurred with little suppuration, the 
owner was notified of the failure of the operation, but 
being undecided as to what course to pursue, the 
animal was still kept at the hospital. 

On the morning of September 26th, as the groom 
was entering his stall to feed him, the horse made a 
sudden turn, slipped and fell down; he rapidly 
regained his feet, and was up in a moment, and when 
called upon to move, was found moving the leg with 
perfect action, walking with a firm, steady step, 
although occasionally betraying a slight sharp pain 
in the limb, but which disappeared in a few days. 

After this, he was exercised every day, improving 
rapidly in form as well as in action, until the 14th 
day of October when he was discharged in his normal 
condition. 

Remarks, — Is it an error, when considering this 
rapid and unexpected recovery, to suppose, that the 
division of the muscle at the time of the operation, 
was imperfect, but was completed by the fall of the 
animal, thus confirming the propriety of the opera- 
tion, in cases of such long standing ? 



164 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

BUPTUBE OF THE FLEXOB METATAKSI. 

As we have before remarked, the rupture of a muscle 
is the result of a violent effort in which the organic 
fibres give way and their continuity is destroyed 
by a force superior to their tenacity. Though it is 
frequently met in some of the muscles, the flexor 
metatarsi, notwithstanding its powerful structure, is 
comparatively a common seat of this lesion. It may 
occur when an animal makes a violent effort to move 
an exceedingly heavy load to which he is harnessed, 
or, as we have twice witnessed it, in making a powerful 
struggle to avoid a sudden threatening fall. The 
sudden rupture of the muscular fibres under an 
inordinate strain is accompanied by the exhibition of 
symptoms too characteristic to be misinterpreted. In 
the words of Percivall, in relating a case of rupture 
of the flexor metatassi : 

" The action of the limb indicated the loss of power 
" of that muscle, as the leg could not be bent at the hock 
" and completely straightened behind, and he had 
" not power of any importance before, in opposition 
" to those antagonist organs, the gastrocnemii, behind. 
" In some of his movements, the limb appeared quite 
" loose about the hock, and was occasionally knocked 
" against the other leg. On moving him about, there 
" was a twitching up backwards of the leg at the hock. 



LAMENESS OF HORSES, 165 

" and when he walked forward, it was evidently done 
* without the concurrence of the flexor metatarsi. 
t * There was a soreness in front, at about six inches 
'' above the hock, and also a little higher up, and the 
" usual tenseness and distinctness of the tendon 
" could not be seen. There was no apparent pain of 
" any importance." 

"Williams completes the description of the symp- 
toms by saying that when the animal is compelled to 
move, the leg is thrown upwards and backwards,with 
great violence, and at the same time the tendo- 
Achilles is seen to fall into a number of folds. 

These extracts accurately describe the symptoms 
exhibited by patients suffering from this lesion. If 
observed while standing quietly in his stall, the ani- 
mal seems to be sustaining his weight equally upon 
all his legs, without favoring one at the expense of 
the rest. But upon being compelled to move, the 
want of the counter motion of contraction of the gas- 
trocnemii, the carrying backwards of the leg in exten- 
sion, and the flabby condition of the tendo-Achilles 
easily betray the true state of the case. 

The question of the exact seat of the injury, and of 
the precise point in the course of the muscle where 
the rupture is to be looked for seemed for a long time 
to be involved in doubt. Some have located it in the 
tendinous section, near the origin of the muscle, and 



166 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

others have placed it, from the peculiarity of its 
action, in the muscular tissue proper. Our own 
views on this subject, which are the result of direct 
experimental inquiry, by which we consider that the 
etiology of the case has been well established, are 
expressed in a paper which was read before the 
United States Veterinary Medical Association, as far 
back as the year 1880, and which we here reproduce : 

" A few months ago, my friend Dr. Lockhart, took 
occasion to call my attention, and that of several of 
our colleagues to the case of a horse which pre- 
sented the following peculiar symptoms. While 
standing quietly in his stall he stood firmly on all 
fours ; when moving, his off hind leg dropped ; when 
carrying forward, the tendo- Achilles appeared en- 
tirely relaxed; no flexion whatever took place at 
the hock. There was some swelling about the 
hock, and some soreness on pressure. My diagnosis 
was made of injury of the flexor metatarsi, and I 
located the trouble at the lower extremity of the 
muscle. The animal was placed under treatment, 
and I believe both ends, that is, the stifle as well 
as the hock, received attention, and I understand 
that the horse recovered. I confess that at first the 
idea of the treatment being applied to both extrem- 
ities of the muscle seemed to me quite singular." 

A few days afterwards, also through Dr. Lockhart, 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. l6f 

I had another opportunity to see a similar case, 
which however was of longer standing and properly- 
considered, in a convalescent condition. If my 
memory serves me rightly, he had in running away, 
received several superficial cuts in the tibial region, 
and when I saw him, he also presented much thicken- 
ing in the region of the hock. His action was some- 
what similar to that of the first case, but in a milder 
form. I believe this case also terminated in recovery. 

Not long after, I encountered another case in my 
own practice. The patient was a large grey gelding, 
belonging to a malt house. Having hauled a very 
heavy load, he was found, on the following morning^ 
to be unable to flex his hocks. The toe of the off 
hind leg dragged in walking, and the characteristic 
relaxation of the tendo-Achilles appeared. But in 
this case there was no wound, no swelling and no 
pain in the whole extent of the tibial region of the 
flexor matatarsi . The horse was simply placed in 
slings, and after three weeks, resumed his work,with- 
out any apparent thickening in any part of the leg. 

These three cases were recorded in my note book 
as ruptures of the flexor metatarsi. 

Quite recently I examined a black gelding, belong- 
ing to a stable keeper of this city, and found the 
same symptoms presented. He was also seen by 
Dr. Lockhart and Mr. Budd. He had received his 



168 LAMEtfESS OF HOUSES. 

injury by slipping backwards while in harness. He 
was blistered along the tendon- Achilles, and kept in 
slings for seven weeks, and at the present time shows 
no mark whatever of his hurt. 

On the 3d of April, 1880, I was called to see a large 
bay gelding, belonging to a brewery in this city. He 
had worked, up to that day, having on the day pre- 
vious hauled an ordinary load, but on the morning 
of the day mentioned had been found in exactly the 
same condition with the previous case, the relaxation 
of the tendo-Achilles being perhaps a little more 
marked, as was also the difficulty of locomotion. No 
pain or soreness appeared throughout the whole 
extent of the tibial region, no swelling at the stifle, or 
along the muscle, or at the hock. The same diag- 
nosis was made, of laceration of the flexor metatarsi. 
When called upon to treat him, the question which 
presented itself for my decision was " what point 
shall I select for my external applications — one end, 
and if either, which; or in the middle of the muscle?" 
Careful examination failed to furnish any intimation 
and I decided to have recourse to the same treatment 
which I had considered so peculiar before, and which 
had been followed by Dr. Lockhart. A strong blis- 
ter was applied over the stifle joint, and another all 
around the hock, and the horse was placed in slings, 
and as far as possible, immobilized. After four 



LAMENESS OF MOUSES. 169 

weeks of treatment, the blisters having produced their 
proper effect, and the scabs cleaned off, the animal 
was released from the strings, and backed of his stall. 
But judge of my disappointment, on discovering 
when he had walked a few steps that there was not 
the slightest improvement. The actual cautery, in 
fine, deep points, with severe blistering, was then re- 
sorted to, the application being made to the hock, 
principally in front, while a strong blister was placed 
over the stifle. Another month was allowed to elapse 
and another disappointment followed. At the begin- 
ning of the third month a third blister was applied, 
over the hock only, and at the end of this third term 
Of treatment I was no further advanced toward success 
—my patient walked as badly as ever. I kept him 
a few days longer, and about one hundred days after 
my first visit, the patient was destroyed. 

It is quite unnecessary to say that I had made up 
my mind to make a careful post-mortem examination 
The three cases first related, with this last one, were 
the only ones I had seen in this country, and 
though each diagnosis had been correct, it had also 
been incomplete, and this important fact rendered 
the treatment uncertain. I had given directions to 
my assistant to have the leg severed from above the 
stifle, amputation to be made about the lower third 
of the femur, for the purpose of securing both of 



170 LAMENESS OF BOUSES. 

the two attachments of the muscle, but through 
some misunderstanding, the leg was cut off, in the 
bone yard, at about the middle of the tibia, and 
thus we lost one of our opportunities, and the post- 
mortem was imperfect. My assistant, Dr. Coates, 
however, took charge of this part of the leg, and 
made a careful inspection of what remained of the 
flexor metatarsi muscle. As the result of his exami- 
nation, the entire structure, with the exception of 
some serious exudation, proved to be healthy, both 
the fleshy and the tendinous portions, with all their 
four lower insertions, being entirely free from 
disease. 

The literature of this subject is somewhat incom- 
plete, and I therefore improve the occasion to-day 
to offer these few remarks." 

Percivall, in his valuable work on lameness, 
mentions two cases, in one of which the patient 
recovered and resumed work after two months. He 
remarks that it "was probably due to a rupture of 
the flexor metatarsi muscles, or its tendon, and 
most likely, of the latter." The second case, after 
being three weeks under treatment, was pronounced 
to be incurable. 

Professor Williams reports a case in the history 
of an aged horse which was not considered of suffi- 
cient value to repay treatment, and was destroyer, 



LAMENESS OP MORSES. 171 

and it was found at the post-mortem examination 
that " the flexor metatarsi was lacerated across its 
" whole thickness : its fibres were pale, and when 
" examined under the microscope, their transverse 
" stria? nearly, and in some places entirely wanting 
"thus showing that the sarcous elements were 
" undergoing degeneration. ' ' 

Gourdon, in his Chirurgie Veterinaire, says that 
" the tendinous cord of this muscle may give after 
violent efforts," and again," this affection gets well 
spontaneously in the majority of cases." But few 
observations of the seat of the rupture have been 
made. Bouley Jr. has seen it at a point correspon- 
ding with the middle portion of the tibia, and 
Gonbeaux has found it at the point of attachment in 
the cavity of the femur. 

The Archives Veterinaires for May, 1880, contains 
an excellent synopsis of the statistics of twenty-one 
cases of rupture of the metatarsi. The causes are 
divided as follows : 

In two instances it occured while the animals were 
being secured in the stocks to be shod ; 

One occured after a fall while being shod, and 
held in the usual manner ; 

One took place during the same operation, through 
the mere resistance of the man holding the foot, 
from the violent efforts of the horse to free himself ; 



172 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

Five resulted from kicking backwards and having 
the leg caught and held by the shaft of the wagon ; 

Four were caused by falling or slipping with the 
leg extended backwards ; 

One was occasioned by the falling of a heavy load 
on the lumber region, the animal having given way 
under the weight ; 

One was due to muscular contraction arising from 
the resistance of the animal while being cast for an 
operation ; 

Three cases are classed as unknown; 

In three others the etiology was incomplete. 

In respect to the results of post mortem exami- 
nation, Mr. Bouley Jr. found " the cord of the 
muscle ruptured in its totality on a level with the 
diaphysis of the tibia," and Mr. Gonbeaux found a 
rupture of the tendon common to the extensor pedis 
and the flexor metatarsi at its origion in the inferior 
cavity of the femur. 

The character of the prognosis as reported was 
far from being serious, a notable improvement taking 
place in from fifteen to twenty days, and after fifty 
or sixty days, a complete recovery in each of the 
twenty-one cases recorded. 

The problem of the true seat of the lesion seems 
still to be undetermined, though most of the writers 
are inclined to locate it in the tendons. 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 173 

In August, 1880, we operated on an old horse by 
making a subcutaneous division of the tendinous 
cord of the flexor metatarsi and extensor pedis, just 
below its passage through the groove between the 
external and anterior tuberosities of the superior 
extremity of the tibia, and when he was allowed to 
rise to his feet, the animal presented all the manifes- 
tations which I had witnessed in all the cases I had 
previously seen. 

Two weeks later, in experimenting fuither upon 
the same animal, an incision was made on the out- 
side and a little in front of the tibia, the anterior 
extensor pedis was drawn forward, the lateral exten- 
sor of the phalanges pushed outward, the tendon of 
the flexor metatarsi well exposed, and a division 
made down to the bone at the widest and thickest 
portion of the fleshy part of the muscle. Some 
hemorrhage occurred. The wound being closed, and 
the animal allowed to rise, he walked away from his 
bed with a perfect action. The leg was carried for- 
ward without any difficulty, the hock being well 
flexed, and the only alteration apparent in his gait 
appearing on the opposite leg, which had been the 
seat of operation two weeks previously. 

He was then returned to his bed and again thrown 
down on his off side, for further experiment. An 
incision was now made immediately above the tibio- 



1U LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

tarsal joint, the tendon of the anterior extensor pedis, 
well isolated, and the mnscle divided, through its 
entire structure, which is at this point mostly tendi- 
nous, the two portions being here on the point of sub- 
dividing into their quadrifur cation. The animal was 
then allowed to rise, whereupon the characteristic 
symptoms became immediately manifest. He drag- 
ged his toe with much difficulty, knuckling consider- 
ably at every step; the relaxation of the tendo- Achilles 
seemed somewhat more marked than on the other 
side, where the muscular portion had been left intact, 
and by its unison with the tendon was able to trans- 
mit to it a portion of its power. The action of turning 
on the near leg, the seat of the last operation, was 
more difficult than on the other, the leg being carried 
more in adduction. Still he stands firmly on both 
legs, and when in the stall, appears to be in perfect 
health. 

As the result of the observations and experiments 
thus detailed, we have arrived at the following con- 
clusion : 

First, the symptoms recorded are not due to rup- 
ture of the fleshy portion alone of the flexor metatarsi. 

Second, the rupture, laceration or divison of the 
tendinous portion alone, at its upper part, from its 
origin to the point of union with the muscular 
fibres, may cause the difficulty of flexion at the hock. 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 175 

Third, the rupture, or division of the lower portion 
of the muscle, or of any part of it where the tendinous 
and fleshy structures are united, may also give rise 
to the same symptoms, but probably more marked, 
and with greater difficulty of flexion at the hock, and 
with impaired co-ordination of the movements. *" 

The prudent practitioner will always make a 
guarded prognosis in injuries of the flexor metatarsi, 
inasmuch as though many patients do recover, there 
will still remain a sufficient fraction to justify a 
reserved opinion. 

The treatment is comparatively simple. 

The most essential of all conditions of the reunion 
and repair of the divided structure, is doubtless rest 
and consequently, the first incident of treatment 
should in our judgment, be the placing of the animal 
in slings, and in a narrow stall, where lateral motion 
will bo limited as much as possible. The application 
of blisters over the parts which the swelling seems 
to indicate as the seat of injury, is recommended by 
leading authorities, but we have our fear that the 
benefit that might attend their employment is likely 
to be more than neutralized by the movement of the 
limb induced by the irritation accompanying the 
action of the vesicant. The confinement of the leg by 



* American Veterinary Review. 1880. 



176 LAMENESS OE HOUSES. 

bandaging, or by putting it in splints, as in cases of 
fracture, is also in our view, objectionable, as being 
likely to be an incumbrance rather than an advantage. 
The forced flexion of the hock r if the repugnance 
of the patient to the necessary restraint could be 
overcome, would more than any other measure facil- 
itate a cure by retaining the coaptation of the sepa- 
rated muscular fibres. 

But the judgment to which we have been led by 
not a little experience is that in general, additional 
manipulations of the limb is more likely to result in 
injury than in benefit, and at the present time our 
sole reliance is uniformly placed in simple rest. 
And we sum up the matter by declaring that from 
six weeks to two months of perfect immobility has 
almost never failed to give us full satisfaction in 
cases of rupture of the flexor metatarsi. 

THE HOCK JOINT. 

The consideration of the diseased conditions which 
affect this complicated articulation will naturally in- 
volve a subdivision of the general subject, corres- 
ponding with the forms and names of the various 
lesions which will call for an examination. "We shall 
thus refer to spavins as a disease of the bony struc- 
ture: blood-spavin amdthoroughpin as hydrarthrosis of 
the joint : capped-hock as hygroma ; curbs as lesions 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 177 

of ligaments and of the sheathes of the surrounding 
tendons, and spring-halt as a disease of which the 
etiology has not yet been clearly demonstrated. 

SPAVIN. 

This term is usually understood to apply to the 
exostosis, or bony enlargement which is often found 
on the inner side and in front of the hock joint. But 
as a definition it is imperfect. For if in the present 
condition of our knowledge of the pathology of the 
hock joint, a spavin can only be considered as one of 
the various diseased conditions to which the hock 
joint is subject, other and different lesions, of the 
same bones may claim the same designation, and 
periostitis, and ulceration and anchylosis may each 
receive the same title, until every one of the various 
diseases of the joint in time becomes a spavin, with 
perhaps such varying qualifications as may be sug- 
gested by their nature, location, etc. 

It is thus, no doubt that we have such designations 
as "bone" spavin, applied to the ordinary exostosis 
of the antero-internal portion of the hock, close to the 
metatarsis ; of "high" spavin, or the exostosis of the 
lower end of the tibia, and extending perhaps to 
the inner malleolus, or internal tuberosity of the 
astragalus, described by the French under the name 
of "jarde" ; or "outside"' spavin, when the exostosis 



178 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

is formed on the outside of the hock joint, on the 
external surface of the cuboid, the "courbe" of the 
French ; and of "occult" spavin, or that diseased 
condition of the bones of the lower row of the 
tarsus, which are any chy lose d, with possibly too 
small an amount of bony deposite on their surface 
to admit of detection by mere external examination. 

The term spavin, then, must be here understood to 
signify any one of the various manifestations of 
disease of the bones of the hock, from an attack of 
simple periostitis to the several lesions of arthritis, 
articular ulceration and anchylosis. The confident 
location of lameness in the hock is often therefore 
equivalent to a prediction that sooner or later the 
hock will ultimately become the seat of spavin, under 
one or other of its various forms. 

Pathology. Williams, in his excellent work on 
Surgery, says of this disease : 

" Bony spavin consists of inflamation excited in the 
" cuneiform bones, or in the cuneiforms and large met- 
" atarsal, and sometimes the inner small metatarsal 
" either from concussion applied to the bones them- 
i l selves, or extension of inflamation of the inter- 
" osseous ligaments, which are implicated in the 

" morbid process We think it may be also said, 

" from injury to the ligaments of the inner side of 
" the hock joint, which by their laceration or 



LAMENESS OF HOMES. 179 

" sprained condition may be accompanied by local 
" periostitis." 

And again. " The inflamation of the bones (ostitis) 
" originates in the cancellated structure of their inter- 
" ior : an exudation is gradually thrown out between 
" them and their cartilage, perverting the nutrition 
" of the latter, whereby it ulcerates and is removed, 
" leaving the exposed surfaces of the bones in contact 
" with each other, and their cancellated structures in 
" opposition thus enabling their vessels to com- 
" municate with each other, as we have found in 
11 anchylosis. Concomitant with the destructive 
" process, going on in the interior of the bones, an 
*' exudate is formed upon their periosteal surface, 
" extending from one diseased bone to another, bind- 
" ing them together by a band of lymph— ultimately 
"converted into bone — which locks them firmly 
" together, and prevents further motion." 

The bony tumor which constitutes a spavin may 
proceed from the periosteum and the cellular tissue, 
and is then characterised as epiphysar. It has at 
first only the resistance of fibrous tissue, and only 
assumes that of a bony structure subsequently, when 
the osseous material has been deposited through its 
substance. By maceration of a hock thus diseased 
the spavin is found to be formed of a sdrt of stalac- 
tiform deposite on the surface of the tarsal or meta- 



180 Lameness op horses 

tarsal bones, sometimes containing grooves of various 
depths, adapted to the reception and movement of 
tendons and ligaments. 

In other instances the growth is parenchymatous, 
and proceeds from the bones themselves, and the 
articulations which they form become also involved 
in the same inflammatory process. This condition 
is attended with severe pain, manifested by acute 
lameness. In these cases, the surfaces become more 
reddened from the beginning, the periosteum thick- 
ens, and sooner or later, exostosis and anchylosis 
follow.-Among the lesions frequently encountered in 
the various forms of spavin, are bony deposites : an 
intimate union of some of the bones ; alterations in 
the articular surfaces, which have become roughened 
by the ulcerative process ; and a greater or less 
destruction of the cartilages. 

Symptoms. — In the estimation of many, two symp- 
toms are considered essential to the formation 
of a spavin, to wit, the existence of the bony de- 
posits or exostosis, and the fact of lameness. And 
still either of these symptoms may be comparatively 
absent, without invalidating the diagnosis of spavin. 
We say comparatively absent, since the bony growth 
may be so slight as to be discoverable by only the 
closest inspection with the sound hock. And again, 



Lameness of horses. isi 

tKe degree of lameness may be too insignificant for 
detection under ordinary scrutiny. 

It is an observation of Percivall's that " lameness, 
though the ordinary, is not the necessary conse- 
quence of spavin." When present, moreover, it may 
be manifested under two different types, the inter- 
mittent and the continued.— And there is a peculiar 
manifestation accompanying the intermittent cases, 
in the fact that it is apt to be more marked when 
the animal is in, opposite conditions, and is either 
cold or warm. This circumstance has suggested 
the distinction observed by certain authors between 
what they denominate chronic and acute spavin. 

The posture of the spavined horse, while standing 
still, is that of resting the foot upon the toe in such 
a manner as to incline the front face of the wall for- 
ward, with the fetlock and hock in semi-flexon ; a 
position which causes the diseased leg to be carried 
slightly in abduction, while he frequently rests the 
heels upon the front of the wall of the opposite foot. 
If while in the stall, the animal is made to move 
sidewise, the movement is comparatively, easily 
made, if executed in the direction of the lame leg, 
but if made towards the opposite or sound side, the 
soreness is rendered more manifest, and the appear- 
ance of the lameness becomes more characteristic. 
The lameness is rendered more manifest when the 



182 LAMENESS 01 HORSES. 

animal is put in action, especially in trotting, except 
in excessively developed cases. The hock is affected 
with a certain stiffness, which is* sometimes accom- 
panied by a spasmodic flexion of the tibio-tarsal joint 
or spring halt, but with a more marked alternate, 
dropping and elevation of the hip. This stiffness is 
so evident that the first few steps are taken with the 
foot resting on the toe alone, but as motion continues, 
the flexibility of the joint appears to increase, until 
at length, almost the entire surface of the sole is 
brought in contact with the ground. In many ani- 
mals, and especially in those in which the exostosis is 
the principal lesion,the stiffness and lameness abate, 
and often seem to disappear entirely, while they are 
kept in motion. But upon being brought to a stand- 
still, and again left for a certain period without ex- 
ercise, there is also a return of the stiffness and 
lameness, which will moreover, be more noticeable 
on the day following that on which the labor was 
performed, than immediately after ceasing from the 
effort. This is what is understood as a manifestation 
of " intermittent' ' lameness, after becoming cold. 

But in another class of cases, in which the stiffness 
of the hock exist but in a trifling degree, it is only 
when the animal has been subjected to a certain 
amount of severe labor that the lameness begins to 
develop. But when it becomes manifest, it shows a 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 183 

a confirmed tendency to increase in degree and per- 
sistency and only again disappears after another con- 
siderable period of rest and idleness. It may seem to 
be almost wholly subdued, but may be relied upon 
to renew its attack immediately upon its resumption 
of the exercise. We look upon these phenomena 
as resulting from a diseased condition of the articular 
surfaces, quite independently of the presence of the 
exostotic growth, in relation to which they furnish 
no proof, either affirmative or negative. It is this 
species of lameness which is recognised as contradis- 
tinguished from that of the previous paragragh, as 
the "warm" intermittent. It may also be encoun- 
tered in diseases of other articulations. 

There are other and special conditions of spavined 
hock which are said to exist without lameness. But 
we question the correctness of such a claim, and hold 
that there is always a certain degree of irregularity 
and defect in the motion of such a joint, which is 
sufficient to constitute the essential condition of 
lameness, even though the proofs of its existence 
may be so slight as to elude discovery by any but the 
most minute and careful scrutiny. In cases like 
these the comparative or apparent absence of lame- 
ness may be accounted for by the location of the 
morbid growth, which from its situation at the su- 
perior extremity of the metatarsus, cannot, to any 



184 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

appreciable extent, involve any other bone of the 
joint. In this we have the true metatarsal spavin of 
Bouley, by whom it was so named in order to distin- 
guish it from the tarso-metatarsal variety, which he 
considered as extending over both the tarsal and 
metatarsal bones. 

We assume then, the existence of lameness, and 
perhaps in a very severe form, without any discerna- 
ble enlargement, a condition by which the diagnosis 
becomes greatly embarrassed. But though embar- 
rassing, it is not necessarily baffling to the expert 
veterinarian, who may still be able to detect an 
increase of heat, especially after labor ; a degree of 
sensibility on the inside of the joint ; and perhaps a 
little thickening, referable to the periostitis ; all of 
which will furnish him with enough of symptomatic 
data for a satisfactory solution of the difficulty. 

Another method of its discovery and recognition is 
a survey of the joint from each direction, forward, 
backward, and at the side successively, and especial- 
ly if the inspection is acccompanied by the delicate 
taxis of the educated fingers of the expert, trained in 
the exploration of sound and healthy joint?, and 
readily detective of any departure from the normal 
contour and outline of the anatomy of the animal. 

In addition to the two principal symptoms by 
which the lameness, due to spavin is usually made 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 185 

manifest, there is another, described by Hertwig, 
which is of material assistance in the differential di- 
agnosis of that cause of the lesion, as compared 
with others. He recommends that the foot of the 
diseased leg be raised and held, with the hock well 
extended, as in the position in which it is held by 
the farrier while nailing on a shoe, and that the 
horse be made to trot briskely immediatly upon 
being released, when, if the spavin be present, the 
lameness will be so aggravated by the effort that for 
a short distance, the animal will travel on his three 
sound legs alone. This statement may be easily 
confirmed by an observation of the gait of spavined 
animals when leaving the shop of the farrier after 
being shod. 

Atrophy of the muscles of the gluteal region is a 
common occurence in old cases of spavin, and should 
be taken into account as one of the sequelae of that 
disease, and of other varieties of lameness as well. 

Prognosis. — Diseases of the hock joint of the char- 
acter of spavin have always a serious aspect, from 
the futility of any just expectation of perfect recov- 
ery. Complete restoration is impossible. An exos- 
tosis once established, becomes a permanence, 
although it may sometimes occur that judicious 
palliative measures may be so far successful that the 
patient may be restored to a degree of convalescence 



18G LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

which is not incompatible with his return to his 
accustomed labor. Yet there always remains a 
condition of disease which must be accepted as 
fatally inconsistent with any assumed claim to a 
certificate of technical soundness, in the accepted 
sence of this term. The best result that can reason- 
ably be hoped for in lameness of the hock due to 
articular disease or to occult spavin, and indeed, 
that which it is usually the principal desire of the 
surgeon to establish, is anchylosis of the joint. 

Causes. — These may be divided into the two classes 
of exciting and predisposing. 

Among the first, which are ordinarily of the 
external kind, may be enumerated violent efforts of 
every description. Heavy draughts, rapid work, any 
excessive labor or sudden strain, or any concentra- 
tion of force bearing upon the joint and tending to 
cause a sprain or laceration of the ligaments, or to 
hurt the bone — any of these causes may be followed 
by spavin as its ultimate effect. Jumping, fast 
running or trotting, especially in young animals, and 
such accidents as sudden slipping upon smooth 
surfaces, may all be attended with laceration of the 
ligaments and inflammation of the periosteum, with 
their consequences. 

Direct contusions from blows and kicks have been 
sometimes numbered among the exciting causes, but 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 187 

in our judgment, considering the ordinary seat of a 
spavin, there is no warrant for this either in 
probability or fact. If a known case of spavin 
could be directly referred to such a cause, it would 
be one of a peculiarly and remarkably exceptional 
nature. 

In respect to the predisposing causes, the most 
generally admitted is heredity. Though this is to 
some extent a contested theory, yet it finds accep- 
tance both with the authorities on veterinary 
subjects, and in the ranks of the more practical horse 
breeders. Whether the transmitted predisposition 
is due to the sprained condition of the parents, or 
to a constitutional malformation of their hocks, of a 
transmissable nature, involves questions still amen- 
able to discussion. AccordiDg to Zundel, " horses 
with long canons, long and bended hocks, are more 
easily predisposed to spavin," and Williams says 
that " hereditary predisposition is not always due to 
"peculiarity of conformation, as many breeds or 
" families of horses with well formed hocks often 
" become unsound from this cause. Peculiarity of 
"conformation is nevertheless, not only hereditary, 
" but of itself a predisposing cause of spavin." 

A question is often asked of young practitioners in 
reference to the malformed hocks to which the name 
of " coarse " has been applied. While it cannot be 



188 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

denied that many animals with largely developed 
coarse hocks are quite exempt from lameness, it is 
nevertheless an acknowledged fact that hocks 
characterized by that peculiarity of conformation 
are not only predisposed to disease, but are already 
in a diseased state, and although they may appear 
at first quite able to perform their accustomed labor, 
free from any apparent irregularity of action, but a 
short time will elapse untill their disability, caused 
by the extensive diseased process which is present, 
remands them to the category, of positively spavined 
horses. 

Constitutional diseases, or predispositions, have 
in some instances found place among the alleged 
causes of spavin, which has thus been credited to 
existing diatheses of rachitism, scrofula, glanders and 
osteo- porosis, and the like. But the effects, in 
cases of this nature are not inclusive in respect to 
spavin alone, but include to all the developments of 
exostosis in common. 

Treatment — Probably no condition of the extrem- 
ities to which lameness can be attributed has 
engaged the attention of empirics or encountered 
the ingenuity of the makers of specifics to such an 
extent as the one we are considering. The veteri- 
nary pharniacopia is running over with quack and 
other spavin cures, all of which are mere modifica- 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 189 

tions and pseudo-improvements of old and estab- 
lished modes of treatment. 

With many, even at the present time, the removal 
of the projection or enlargement which constitutes 
the spavin proper forms the principal indication of 
treatment, and this will account for the suggestion 
which sometimes meets with favor, that the best of 
prescriptions, the theory of extirpation being accep- 
ted, is that which involves the employment of the 
chisel and the saw. Our knowledge of the extent to 
which the lesion may attain, and the easy possibility 
that instead of its being a simple epiphysar-exostosis, 
it may be a form of disease which extends within 
the joint, and may involve in its complications the 
articular surface itself, affords sufficient argument 
against such an interference, and suggests ample 
reason for avoiding the dangers necessarily involved 
in the kind of surgery alluded to. 

The operation of periostotomy, as practised by 
Profesor Sewell in the treatment of splints, either 
by simple subcutaneous section of the periosteum 
or, as occasionally resorted to, by the introduction 
of setons under the skin, has many advocates. But 
we are compelled to say that in our own experience 
this treatment has not been followed by the good 
results which some other authors have described. 

The relief ordinarily secured, and which has 



190 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

often proved to be of a permanent character, by the 
use of counter irritants, recommends itself to all prac- 
titioners, as evidence that the correct philosophy of 
treatment has not been missed. This is specially 
true in respect to the acute form of the disease, 
when the periostitis alone is present, or while the 
resultant exostosis is still possibly controlable. 
Blisters of cantharides, and the various preparations 
of iodine and of mercury, when prescribed in the 
acute stage, have many times controlled the develop- 
ment of the growth, and in the estimation of some 
practitioners, by duly exciting the absorbent action 
effected its removal. The potential caustics, such 
as the compounds of mineral acids, or corrosive 
sublimate, bichromate of potash, tartarized anti- 
mony etc., which form the basis of many of the 
patented spavin cures, should be wholly ignored in 
practice. 

The actual cautery, or firing, as it is the oldest, 
we hold to be also the best adapted and most suc- 
cessful, judging from practical results, of all known 
methods of promoting recovery from this form of 
lameness. While many make the application in lines, 
we consider the most successful and satisfactory 
mode to be that of points, or dots. Deep cauteriza- 
tion, with penetrating points, needle firing, as re- 
commended principally by French veterinarians, has 



LAMMESS OF HORSES. 191 

proved itself in our hands, to be an excellent means 
of relief. If done at all it must be done thoroughly 
and severely, and in many cases it may become neces- 
sary to repeat the operation. Several instances 
have occurred within our knowledge, in which relief 
was obtained only after the second, and even a third 
application of the iron. A combination treatment 
of firing and blistering, which is common amongst 
American veterinarians, is advantageous in preven- 
ting the possibility of extensive blemishes, although 
the results are not rendered less favorable by a dis- 
regard of that consideration. Our personal experi- 
ence satisfies us that more real advantage would 
follow the use of the actual cautery, if practitoners 
would less frequently allow themselves to be deterred 
by the interference of timid owners, from resorting 
to it at the initial manifestation of the growth. 

But while counter irritation, however produced, is 
known in numerous instances to be of essential 
advantage in relieving the lameness resulting from 
spavin, there is another requirement, connected with 
it which must in no wise be overlooked. It may 
even be claimed that when good results ensue upon 
whatever other treatment may have been, pursued 
or even a cure accomplished, the success has been, 
in fact, conditioned upon the observance of this 
requirement. "We refer to the element of rest. 



192 LAMENESS OF BOUSES. 

But while counter irritation, however produced, 
is known in numerous instances to be of essential 
advantage in relieving the lameness resulting from 
spavin, there is another requirement, connected with 
it which must in no wise be overlooked. It may 
even be claimed that when good results ensued 
upon whatever other treatment may have been pur- 
sued, or even a cure accomplished, the success has 
been, in fact, conditioned upon the observance of 
this requirement. "We refer to the element of rest. 
And it must consist in something besides mere 
idleness in a stable, whether m a single or a box 
stall. It must consist in giving the animal his 
liberty, and letting him alone. A genuine rest, of 
six weeks, or even a long period, has in many 
instances, in our experience, proved to be advan- 
tageous in the highest degree. If we are not in 
error in our view on this subject, the main purpose 
of any course of treatment for spavin, is to establish 
a permanent condition of anchylosis of the diseased 
joint. Such is the evident tendency of the medica- 
tion usually adopted, and it may be accounted 
specially successful when the counter irritation has 
accomplished its object in exciting the process of 
resolution and absorption. It then becomes easy 
under such circumstances, to appreciate and estimate 
the value of time and the natural and beneficial 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 193 

effects of protracted and undisturbed quiet, until 
the necessary physiological processes in progress 
are completed, and the bones have become adapted 
to their changed condition by passive and natural 
motion, only to be obtained voluntarily and by 
moderate degrees. The unmolested freedom of the 
pasture will afford a genuine rest which cannot be 
enjoyed in the stable, either when tied up in a 
narrow stall, or walking around in a loose box. 

These methods of treatment, with the result sought 
for in the anchylosis, are principally indicated when 
the seat of disease is in the articular surface. But 
there are cases which are quite beyond their scope, 
and in which they are contra-indicated by their 
mere inadequacy, if for no other cause. 

Among these intractable cases are those in which 
the exostosis has become of extraordinary size, and 
the lameness is increased by the pressure caused by 
the over-stretched condition of the internal branch of 
the quadrifurcation of the tendon of the flexor meta- 
tarsi near its point of insertion to the small cuneiform 
bone in the inside ol the hock. Here, passing over 
the enlargement and its periosteal covering, it can be 
easily detected running at the bottom of the groove 
which can be felt on the upper part of the tumor, 
In these cases the division of the tendinous band — 
tarsal tenotomy — has been often recommended, and 



194 LAMENESS OF MOUSES. 

has been performed with good results. Still, although 
favored by Abildguard of Copenhagen, seconded by 
Lafosse, Mandel, Brogniez and others, it has not been 
uniformly successful, and as Bouley remarks, cannot 
be relied upon in cases of spavin complicated with 
anchylosis, or disease of the articular surface. The 
instruments necessary for the operation are a pair of 
scissors, a convex bistoury, forceps, a blunt curved 
and grooved tenaculum, and a tenotomy knife. In 
the operation, the patient being thrown on the side 
of the lame leg, and secured in such a manner as to 
expose the affected hock, the hair is closely cut over 
the course of the tendon. This is readily identified 
by the groove which it has made on the upper part 
of the tumor, which it seems to divide into two parts? 
a superior and an inferior. An incision about three 
inches in length is then made, posterior to the 
saphena vein, either along the line, or, as we prefer it, 
obliquely to the course of the tendon. This is follow- 
ed by a slight capillary hemorrhage, which is easily 
suppressed. The dissection of the subcutaneous 
cellular tissue soon exposes the fibres of the tendon 
which are readily traced, crossing the incision of the 
skin, and running from before backwards and down- 
wards, A small quantity of synovial fluid sometimes 
escapes upon the exposure of the tendinous band 
The tenaculum, or an aneurism needle, which answers 



LAMENESS OF SOUSES. 195 

the purpose as well, is then introduced under the 
tendon, which is carefully raised and divided, the 
division being made, if possible, at the point where 
it passes over the most prominent part of the 
exostosis and accomplished by pushing the knife 
along the groove of the tenaculum. The edges of 
the wound are then brought together by two or 
three stitches, and the horse is permitted to rise. 
The improvement is sometimes immediate, though 
ordinarily it is only after the laps of several days 
that it becomes apparent. In other cases it is not 
discoverable at all. 

The division of the plantar nerves just above the 
point of the hock is another operation which has 
been recommended by some authors, but it has not 
been attended with the degree of benefit sometimes 
claimed for it. 

HYDRARTHROSIS OF THE HOCK. 

Under this variety of hock joint disease must be 
considered the dropsical condition of the articular 
and the tendinous synovial sacs, known also by 
the popular designation of blood spavin and thorough- 
pin. But believing that there should be a division 
of the latter term, and a distinction should be 
observed between the hydrarthrosis of the joint and 
that of the tendinous sac, we propose to treat the 



196 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

subject under the two divisions of " articular " and 
" tendinous " thoroughpin. 

The designation of "blood" spavin, with its 
synonym of " bog " spavin, is applied to a peculiar 
condition of the joint, in which the saphena vein 
acquires an unusual prominence at the point of its 
passage over that part of the front of the hock 
where the distended synovial capsule of the joint 
becomes almost subcutaneous. 

The bog spavin is situated on the anterior and 
innerside of the hock, and may be described as a 
soft, elastic, fluctuating tumor, varying in size and 
consistency. Its formation is attended with symp- 
toms of acute inflammation, such as heat and sore- 
ness, with a more or less serious degree of lameness 
as a sequel. In its chronic form, the changed 
condition of the joint, principally through its large 
increase in size constitutes a condition of unsound- 
ness quite sufficient to interfere effectually with the 
ability of the animal to continue in the performance 
of his accustomed labor. 

The articular thoroughpin usually accompanies 
the bog spavin. They both result from a dropsical 
collection in the tibio-tarsal synovial sac, the latter, 
as we have said, being found in the front, while the 
former occurs in the hollow of the hock, or the angle 
formed by the lower end of the tibia and the os calcis. 



LAMEttESS OF BOUSES. 19? 

In this situation the enlargement occurs either as a 
single tumor, placed on one side, or possibly in the 
form of a double growth, having one portion on each 
side of the joint, that which occupies the inner side 
being the larger, but both comprising in fact but a 
single tumor, possessing the same external character 
with the bog spavin. There is evident inter-com- 
munication, pressure on one part producing disten- 
tion in another, with common fluctuation throughout. 

The tendinous thoroughpin, or dropsical condition 
of the tarsal sheath consists of a soft tumor of the 
same nature with the foregoing, having for its location 
the posterior part of the tibia, between that and the 
tendo-Achilles, and at the superior part of the hock. 
It is of a more elongated form, and of more varying 
dimensions, but is more commonly found protruding 
on both sides of the hock. 

The general history of these affections, with their 
symptomatology, pathology, duration and termina- 
tions, together with the various indications of treat- 
ment adapted to each form of lesion, have been duly 
considered in our generalization of the subject of 
hydrarthrosis in preceecling pages, (201, 202), to 
which we refer the reader. 



198 LAMENESS OF BOUSES. 

HYGROMA OF THE HOCK. — CAPPED HOCK. 

The formation of a soft tumor, of indefinite size, as 
the result of a dropsical condition of the subcutan- 
eous sac at the point of the hock, constitutes the 
lesion denominated the capped hock. As with the 
kindred affection of capped elbow, which we have 
already considered, it is a hygroma of the point of 
the hock, and in many respects resembles its con- 
geners of the olecranon. 

The most common origin of these affections is of 
a traumatic nature, and they are traceable in most 
cases to external hurts. Bruises against a wall, or 
the sides of the stall, or other self-inflicted contus- 
ions by kicking in animals addicted to that fault, 
with other kindred causes, are usually chargeable 
with the injury. The peculiar posture assumed by 
some horses while lying down, with the hock held in 
extreme flexion, may often be included among the 
developing causes, and the same is true of horses 
confined in inconvenient quarters during long jour-, 
neys by rail or on shipboard. It may be induced 
by excessive flexion of the hock from overwork in 
young animals ; by the overworking of saddle horses ; 
by leaping; by slipping on smooth pavements, or 
indeed, by any sufficiently violent strain or extra 
effort that may implicate the hock or the tendinous 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 199 

cord belonging to it. Narrowness of the joint, defects 
of formation, and any weakness of structure may 
also be regarded as pre-disposing causes* 

Symptoms.— The tumor is situated quite on the 
summit of the oscalcis, and sometimes extends on 
both sides of the joint, in which case the hock 
becomes so enlarged and rounded as to present just 
such an appearance as it would exhibit if fitted and 
covered with an artificial cap — whence its designa- 
tion. Being soft and painless, and susceptible of 
free movement in all directions, it cannot be regarded 
as an important hindrance to the labor of the animal, 
otherwise than when in extreme cases it may 
obstruct the perfect flexion of the joint by its con- 
sistency or its unusual bulk. But beyond such a 
degree of embarrassment to locomotion as may arise 
from this circumstance, it may be safely said that it 
seldom causes lameness per se. It is painful, with a 
rise of temperature, only in exceptional cases, and 
those of recent occurence. In some rare instances 
suppuration, and even ulceration may supervene 
and give rise to complications which may involve 
serious consequences, and in a very few cases the 
cyst may assume a chronic character, and undergo 
the changes which have been considered while treat- 
ing the subject of capped elbow. 

Prognosis.— The prognosis of capped hock is not 



200 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

usually a very serious one. Yet in view of the fact 
that it is not always tractable under treatment, and 
that it is liable to leave a record of its visitation in 
the form of a perpetual blemish and disfigurement, 
which may largely impair the market value of the 
animal, a cautious opinion will always be a safe one. 
The complications which have followed a course of 
heroic treatment in this comparatively mild disease 
have sometimes brought about the utter failure of a 
too confident favorable prognosis. 

Treatment. — A recent case, manifested by pain and 
heat, but with no fluctuation in the tumor, may be 
dissipated by rest and the applicatian of local 
sedatives. But when it betrays a tendency to become 
chronic, treatment of a more energetic character 
becomes necessary, though it is still not unusual to 
find it unsatisfactory. Counter irritants, artificial 
bandages and blisters are often recommended. 
Cantharidal ointment and iodurated iodide of potassa 
have in many instances proved signally serviceable. 
English veterinarians put much faith in an ointment 
of biniodicle of mercury. Simple puncture of the 
tumor with a bistoury, or the discharge of its con- 
tents by means of the aspirator needle has aided 
many cases, especially when they have been sup- 
plemented by a vigorous blister, or accompanied by 
an injection of tincture of iodine, which last measure, 



MMENESS OF HORSES. 201 

however, is not always unaccompanied by danger 
arising from the possibility of inducing severe 
arthritis. Opinions conflict in respect to the appli- 
cation of the actual cautery, and it is confidently 
advocated as well as earnestly opposed. In our 
own practice we have witnessed excellent results 
from the needle cautery, applied somewhat super- 
ficially, and would unhesitatingly prefer that treat- 
ment to the introduction of setons or deep punctures 
with the hot iron. 

Prophylactic measures are recommended, and 
not without great propriety, by Percivall. In view 
of the bad habit which animals sometimes acquire, 
of kicking or rubbing their hocks against the par- 
titions of their stalls, and in that manner exciting 
the disease, he suggests the plan of covering the 
partitions or the heel part of the stall with padding 
of some soft material, which will effectually protect 
the horse from such self-inflicted injury. In lieu of 
this means of protection and in case of its failure, he 
would place fetters or hobbles upon one or both 
extremities of the animal, and in the event of the 
failure of this plan, would replace it by the applica- 
tion of a wooden log or iron weight appended to a 
chain and secured above the fetlock, on the leg with 
which the animal performs his kicking, the idea of 
this contrivance originating in a theory of self- 



202 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

instruction, by which the animal is supposed in the 
exercise of his natural sagacity to cure himself of 
his injurious habit by the self-inflicted punishment 
to which he is subjected by its indulgence. 

CURB. 

Upon the posterior border of the os calcis, and 
reaching from the upper extremity of that bone to 
the cuboid, and to the head of the external small 
metatarsal, is the calcaneo-metatarsal ligament, one 
of the means of union of the two rows of tarsal 
bones. This, under some peculiar circumstances of 
sprains, becomes the seat of the disease which from 
the special form and appearance which it imparts to 
the posterior part of the hock, is known by the 
name of curb. The vertical line which in a healthy 
joint extends from the point of the os calcis down to 
the fetlock, is altered, and in its place there is a 
bulging or prominence backwards, which may extend 
more or less from a little below the point of the 
hock down below the tarso-metatarsal articulation. 
In other words, a curb means a prominence situated 
at the back of the hock joint, varying in size from 
that which causes a slight deviation or convexity of 
the vertical line of the posterior part of the hock, to 
that of a well marked and conspicuous enlargement, 



Lameness of bouses. 203 

spreading not only from above downwards, but from 
without inwards. 

The true causes of this lesion is subject to ques- 
tion and may be correctly classed among those of 
doubtful diagnosis. The French term, literally 
translated, defines it as a disease of the bony struc- 
ture of the hock, on the outside of the joint. Perci- 
vall, and with him the English veterinarians, consider 
it to consist in a lesion of the cellular tissue, or of 
the annular ligament which passes over the tendons 
and binds them downwards, or even of the tendon 
itself. Our view is in accord with that of Williams, 
and with him, we consider the lesion to be of a 
ligamentous nature, having the calcaneo-metatarsal 
ligament for its seat. The fact cannot be ignored, 
however, that in some cases the tendons, the annular 
ligament and the surrounding cellular tissue may all 
alike become invoked. 

There can be no doubt in respect to the cause of 
this injury, and under the name of sprain under 
whatever circumstances it may generally occur, the 
fact of the existence of a curb can be readily under- 
stood. In one case the patient may be an animal 
which has been compelled to exert his strength 
beyond the resisting power of the ligamentous 
structure of the joint, as often occurs in young racing 
horses, in the hunter, and in the jumper. In another 



204 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

case it may be the the result of a congenital defor- 
mity of the bones themselves, in which the line 
drawn from the point of the hock down to the fetlock 
curves from the perpendicular, or the animal may 
possess that peculiar and special description of hock 
already suggestively denominated " curby." 

"Whatsoever may be the cause, the difficulty is 
easy of discovery. Standing on one side of the 
animal, and looking at him in profile, the bulging of 
the back of the hock is readily detected. An inspec- 
tion from this point is far preferable to that from 
behind, from which the change may easily be 
overlooked. The tumor, thus observed, presents 
according to its various stages of progress, all the 
manifestations of inflammation, from the acute 
symptoms of heat and soreness to the small, hard 
nodule, cool and painless, and having no worse 
character than that of a disfigurement. 

The lameness which accompanies curb exists in 
varying degrees, according to its state of progress, 
as well as its form, as being acute or chronic, though 
not in such a mode as to form a very satisfactory 
criterion of its severity. In our own observation we 
have seen a very considerable degree of lameness, 
associated with a mild form of the lesion, and on the 
other hand, cases in which the deformity was com- 
paratively excessive, with scarcely any perceptible 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 205 

alteration in the gait of the animal, either in walking 
or in trotting. When the lameness exists, it may be 
denominated intermittent while warm : in the lang- 
uage of Percival, " usually, a curbed horse is too lame 
" to work, or is kept from work by growing lamer 
"every time he is made to perform it. Repose 
" always benefits this lameness ; exercise or exertion 
" always does him harm." 

Prognosis. — So far as the removal of the lameness 
is concerned, with the possibility of restoring the 
patient to his ability to labor, the prognosis of curb 
may be considered as favorable, and as a rule, the 
disease may be said to be amenable to treatment. 
But the fact that it is likely to leave a record of its 
existence in the form of an ineffacable blemish, 
which must constitute a permament eye-sore, should 
always qualify a professional dictum in respect to 
the final termination of the case, since the suspicion 
of unsoundness will never cease to be predicable, 
while such an appearance is visible, upon that 
alone. 

Treatment. — The treatment of curb varies in no 
essential particulars from that of other lesions of 
tendinous and ligamentous structures. The neces- 
sity of rest while the operative process is in progress, 
and the restoration of the disordered functions is in 
a course of accomplishment, is an obvious and 



206 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

principal indication. And in respect to positive 
medication, topical applications of various kinds are 
offered, according to the predilections and the 
experience of practitioners. Cooling, anodyne and 
alterative preparations are variously recommended. 
Vesicants, in a variety of forms, including canthar- 
ides, and iodine with its various compounds, the 
potential cautery with alteratives, such as the largely 
used solution of corrosive sublimate in dilated 
alcohol, (one part to eight), with similar prescrip- 
tions, according to individual predilection, have their 
place in the armaments of different practitioners. 
"With one class of operators nothing should precede 
or displace the actual cantery. Of this class again, 
one portion prefer the feather or line method, while 
on our part, we give precedence, when we resort to 
the hot iron, to the fine puncture or needle style of 
firing, which, in our experience, yields better results 
of a positive kind, as well as being followed by less 
blemish in the sequel. 

A high heeled shoe is recommended by English 
surgeons, both as a preventive when there is a 
predisposition to curb, and to horses already under 
treatment for the disease. Care is necessary to guard 
against the accident of wearing the shoe too long. 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 207 

SPRINGHALT OR STUINGHALT. 

This is the designation ( the terms are nsecl con- 
vertibly ) of the involutary and convulsive action of 
one or both of the hind legs, by which the hock is 
suddenly flexed, with a more or less violent jerk, by 
the sudden and clonic contraction of the voluntary 
muscles, without any lesion or deformity of the 
affected member. With no sign of its existence while 
the animal is in a state of rest, it suddenly manifests 
itself when the act of walking takes place, as entirely 
an aberration of motion, by the spasmodic flexion of 
the hock, in which at the instance of raising the 
foot from the ground, it springs upward, to a greater 
or less height from the ground, sometimes to a 
degree and with a force which brings the front part 
of the hoof in violent contact with the abdomen, 
striking it at every step, and returning the foot to the 
ground with equal violence. The action is usually 
more pronounced at the period of leaving the stable, 
or when the horse is first moved in the morning after 
a night's repose. While it is commonly observed as 
the animal is moving in a straight line, it often 
becomes necessary to turn him from right to left, or 
from left to right, in order to obtain a free exhibition 
of the symptoms, which only occurs daring action. 
In moderately developed cases, it may be so modified 



208 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

by exercise as to be, if not removed, at least so 
abated as to escape detection after a few steps. 

Though springhalt is a condition not to be over- 
looked while examining an animal for soundness, 
and may continue stationary in degree for years, 
there also is a class of cases which become rapidly 
aggravated, until the subject becomes totally unfitted 
for labor. This is more apt to take place when both 
legs are equally and simultaneously affected. 

The causes in which this peculiar habit originates 
are admittedly unknown, though there is no lack of 
theories on the subject. English veterinarians seem 
to agree in locating it in the nervous centres, and 
considering the sudden flexion to be merely a 
resulting reflex motion. Percivall fixes its seat in 
the spinal marrow, a location which he says he 
"was first led to adopt from having observed a 
" broken backed horse exhibit all the characteristic 
" signs of springhalt, which in his case was clearly 
"only an accompanying symptom of the former 
disease." Youatt, and principally Spooner, adopted 
the conclusion from many post mortem examinations, 
that it arises from the sciatic nerve, the existence of 
which a careful dissection always revealed, while 
Professor Dick, quoted by Williams, was of opinion 
that "it was due to the presence of tumors in the 
"lateral ventricles of the brain," Williams himself, 



LAMENESS OF HORSES 209 

however, classifying it under the head of choreic 
affection, and holding that it may in many instances 
be due to reflex nervous action, however that might 
be caused. 

French veterinarians are more inclined to attribute 
it to disease of the bones of the hock, and for that 
reason have given it the name of eparvin sec. 
Erosions of the articular surfaces, principally in 
lines parallel with the trochlea of the astragalus, 
have been found by Eey, and others account for it 
by the presence of ulceration at the bottom of the 
astragalian trochlea. According to Kigot, the spring- 
halt of the hinder extremities is accompanied by 
erosions of the tibio-tarsal articular surfaces, while 
that of the fore leg is connected with those of the 
humero-radial joint?. Goubaux and Barrier have 
found lesions in various articulations ; in the feruoro- 
tibial, in the tibio-tarsal — in all the joints of the 
hind leg, except the coxo-femoral ; while again, 
nothing abnormal could be found either in the bones 
or their cartilages, or the muscles, tendons, aponeu- 
rosis, synovial membranes, blood vessels, or nerves. 
Bouley considers it but an exaggeration of a physio- 
logical fact. He says, " the hinge of the tibio-tarsal 
"joint is so perfect, that there is something autom- 
" atic in the movements which it executes ; viz. 
" that when they are once begun in the direction of 



210 LAMENESS OF BOUSES. 

"flexion or extension, they terminate by themselves. 
" When, for instance, the tibio-tarsal joint is half 
"flexed, and that in consequence the astragalus 
" corresponds to the tibia by the summit of its curve, 
" the flexion is continued by itself on account of the 
"inclination of the articular surfaces. In other 
" words, when the pulley of the astragalus has passed 
" or gone a little beyond half of its course, the move- 
" ment has a tendency to continue mechanically, in 
" one direction or in the other, only by the mechanism 
"itself of the inclination of the surfaces upon which 
" the sliding takes place." 

Dickerlioff considers that springhalt is due to the 
retraction of the aponeurosis cf the tibial or of the 
antibrachial region, as it takes place either in the 
hind or the fore leg. 

Tn Mr. Montagnac's view, the spring motion of the 
hock is but a manifestation of the sudden relaxation 
of the lower pare of the extremity, accompanying an 
interference with the flexion of the leg as the con- 
traction of the heels. 

Whatever may be the essential nature of the lesion 
which gives rise to that infirmity, the place of spring- 
halt must be consigned to the list of incurable dis- 
orders, and rational treatment can scarcely be recom- 
mended unless it is considered that some advantage 
may perhaps be expected from simple rest, if sufn- 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 211 

ciently undisturbed and long enough continued. In 
one case, in which it was associated with bone spavin, 
"Williams divided the tibial nerves, but without any- 
resulting benefit. Boccar, Delwart and Brogniez 
have successfully divided the tendon of the lateral 
extensor of the phalanges. The operation is simple. 
" The animal being thrown, a small incision is made 
" in the skin covering the tendon, a little below the 
" hock and close to its union with the anterior 
" extensor and a bistoury introduced under the ten- 
" don, allows its entire division, and a piece of about 
" one inch is then cut off. Sometimes, when the 
" animal is allowed to get up, the springhalt still 
" remains for a few days after the operation. In 
" this case, daily exercise is necessary to break up 
" the abnormal adhesions which the tendon may 
" have formed in its course." Dickerhoff claims to 
" have obtained good results by the same process, but 
" he prefers and performs with more success " the 
" subcutaneous section of the branch of the aponeu- 
" rosis of the leg which runs alongside of the anterior 
" extensor of the phalanges, and that of the termin- 
" ating tendon of the lateral extensor. To perform 
" this operation, the animal is thrown on the opposite 
" side of the lame one. The leg is encircled above the 
" hock with a cord or elastic ligature, as a temporary 
" hemostatic, and also to render the aponeurosis 



212 LAMENESS OF HORSES, 

'- easier to reach. The operator divides the skin 
" below the hock at the passage of the terminating 
" tendon of the lateral extensor. A blunt tenotomy 
" knife is then introduced over the aponeurosis, 
" which is then cut. Then a sharp and pointed 
" tenotome is passed under the tendon of the lateral 
" extensor, which is divided across. "When allowed 
" to get up, the animal flexes down and carries his 
" fetlock forward, but after a few steps rests firmly 
" on the ground. A simple antiseptic dressing is 
" then put on the wound." A rest of several months 
is necessary before the animal can resume his work, 
Mr. Montagnac claims to have obtained excellent 
results from the application of a "Watrin" shoe, 
which is made with little caulks on the inside of each 
branch of the shoe, close to the heels, upon which 
they rest, and which they spread. 



CHAPTEE V. 
DIGITAL REGION. 

The subjects to which the present chapter will be 
appropriated are : 

Interfering, as a lesion of the skin or of the cellular 
tissue of the fetlock ; 

Splints, Bingbones and Sidebones, as injuries of the 
bony structure ; 

Windgalls and Cystic Tumors, as Hydrarthroses and 
Hygromas of the fetlock ; and 

Sprains, or injuries of the tendons, under which 
title we shall consider the deformity of the meta- 
corpo or metatarsophalangeal joint known as 
Knuckling. 

INTERFERING. 

This is the action of the animal when, while 
travelling, the hoof of the moving leg of either of the 
biped sets, whether the anterior or the posterior, is 
brought in contact, more or less violently, with the 
opposite member, then momentarily at rest. Of 
course the injuries which result from this irregular 



214 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

contact will vary greatly in degree with the amount 
of force which accompanies the stroke. Thus, when 
the contact is very light and the mark which follows 
it, is but faintly discerned, if not in fact imperceptible 
to the sight without careful inspection of the parts, 
the animal is said, merely, to touch — this being the 
first and least serious degree of the evil — and from 
this point there is a progression in the forms and 
stages of injury, until the animal is said to cut. Nor 
is this the limit of the evil, still other varieties of 
wound appearing as the natural results of the per- 
sistent and long continued infringement of a hard 
upon a soft vital structure, until that which begins 
as a simple superficial injury of the skin may reach 
the proportions of a lesion, which, unremedied, may 
well nigh destroy the value of an otherwise useful 
animal, by the extent to which his capacity for labor 
has become impaired. 

Etiology. — There are of course various causes in 
which this condition of things may originate, and a 
rigid inspection is incumbent on the part of the 
veterinarian who would insist upon a full compre- 
hension of his case, and who strives for the best 
attainable success in his encounter with an inter- 
fering patient. 

The causes of interfering may be considered under 
the following heads. 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 215 

1°. — Weakness of the Subject— Re may be pre- 
disposed to the habit by a constitutional lack of the 
muscular force necessary for the performance of the 
labor usually exacted from him, even while seeming 
to possess a perfect bodily conformation, and betray- 
ing, while inactive and at rest, no defector irregularity 
of attitude or appearance. This condition is princip- 
ally illustrated in animals which have suffered from 
long, debilitating sickness, and in others which have 
been overworked by being subjected to excessive and 
exhaustive toil either during their immature youth 
or after passing the maturity of their powers. Or 
the debility may be attributed to poor feeding, in 
which the natural stamina has failed to find its ne- 
cessary support form the provender furnished. Or, 
in the same line of observation we may include ex- 
cessive labor, however so rendered, or any cause, in 
short, which may derange the equilibrium of forces 
and requirements which contributes to the conserva- 
tion of the elements of which the due correlation and 
action are expressed by the general term of "sound- 
ness. " The general result is that the action of the 
muscles becomes deficient, and the legs, instead of 
being freely thrown forward, become affected with 
the lateral movement of oscillation, which brings 
them in collision, more or less hurtfully, according to 
the existing degree of debility. 



216 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

The same phenomenon may be the result of a 
pathological region. In horses which are weak in 
the lumbar region, or which are suffering from par- 
tial paralysis, or perhaps recovering from it, it is easy 
to understand the impossibility of performing the 
movements required by the legs in the locomotive 
act, with the strength, freedom and regularity 
which attend the actions of a strong and healthy 
animal. 

A nearly similar, though somewhat modified action 
occurs in an animal suffering from severe acute lame- 
ness of one foot. But in this case it is the diseased 
leg which impinges upon the healthy member, and 
sometimes, with the effect of seriously complicating 
the result in both the new injuries which have thus 
supervened. 

2°. — Defective Conformation. — Abnormal defects 
in form, characterized by narrowness of the chest or 
of the pelvis, must necessarily become a cause of 
interfering, through the undue approximation of 
the extremities in either or both of the bipeds. The 
trouble in such cases may be aggravated by the rapid 
movements of animals of high breeding, as in the 
racer, in which that peculiarity is specially apt to 
appear. 

3°. — Imperfection in the Direction of the Legs, and 
the Method of Standing. — Normally, the various parts 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 21? 

of the legs, from the knee or the hock down, should 
follow such a direction that a vertical line drawn 
from the middle of the anterior face of each of the 
joint would divide the lower half of the leg into 
equal parts. But in animals whose legs are crooked, 
whether curving inwardly or outwardly, with the 
toes turned in either direction, and correspondingly 
causing the heels either to approach or separate, this 
condition does not exist. In both instances there is 
a reduction of the space normally provided for the 
free motion of the foot, either in front or behind, and 
interference becomes an inevitable consequence, 
though varying in respect to the part of the foot with 
which the contact is effected. Thus, when the toes 
are turned outwards, the inside of the heel will inflict 
the blow, and on the other hand, with the toe turned 
inwardly, that point itself or the quarter of the wall 
will perform the striking. This formation of the 
knee, sometimes also denominated " cow-knee " is 
occasionally complicated with another malformation, 
consisting in an excessive length of the phalanges, 
the term "long-jointed" being also applied to this 
class of animals. The deviations in the direction of 
the bony levers, and in the mode of standing, which 
characterize these cases, are under these circum- 
stances, greatly increased, with a corresponding 
aggravation of the predisposition to interfere. 



218 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

4°o — Irregularity in the Action of the Joints. ■ — 
When the movement of an articulation, instead of 
taking place on the normal plane, parallel to the 
central axis of the body, deviates from the vertical 
line, the result is that all the the bony levers situated 
below it, are carried in the same direction, and 
instead of moving forwards in a straight line are 
inclined towards those of the opposite side. Here 
again, interfering is the result, in a greater or less 
degree, as the erroneous action of the joint is more or 
less marked. Horses addicted to a high knee action, 
or contrariwise, those whose habit it is to travel 
close to the ground, are equally disposed to interfere. 

In these cases the disproportion existing between 
the length of the fore arm and that of the cannon 
constitutes the cause of the defect. 

5°. — Swelling of the Leg. — A swelling existing at 
the lower part of the leg, whether diffuse, or limited 
to the region of the fetlock, and especially when the 
prominence is of a considerable size, must, if only for 
mechanical reasons, invite the lesion, and those whose 
joints have become in any degree deformed by chronic 
trouble of the kind must expect recurrences of the 
attack whenever circumstances become propitious. 

6°. — Condition of the Feet. — A tendency to 
interfere may be looked for in feet excessive in size 
or irregular in shape, as when they exceed the nor. 



LAMENESS OP BOUSES. 219 

mal standard in their weight or their transverse 
diameter. An increased liability to interfering may 
occur also when the foot is deformed by having the 
external quarter higher than the internal, with an 
inward deviation of the fetlock from this direction, 
and it may be looked for also from flat, broad feet, 
or the deformed feet of chronic laminitis. 

7°. — Shoeing. — "We must look to the shoe for the 
most common and influential of the predisposing 
causes of interfering,and may recognize it as belonging 
at once to the producing and predisposing elements. 
As a general fact any horse which is shod has his lia- 
bility to interfere increased in at least one particular, 
by the circumstance that when the shoes have become 
polished and smoothed by continued friction, the 
feet have by the same process lost a portion of their 
holding power upon the ground. This is especially 
so on certain slippery roads and peculiar kinds of 
pavement, in travelling over which the animal is 
often compelled, in order to maintain his equilibrium 
to shift and cross the feet so hastily and rapidly that 
blows and cuts must almost necessarily follow, 
inflicted by either foot upon the other, and resulting 
in wounds and injuries of a serious and painful 
character. 

Excessive length in a foot, with its proportionally 
increased weight and that of the shoe superadded 



220 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

may be included with the predisposing causes, since 
the elongation of the foot is necessarily and naturally 
associated with that of the lever power represented 
by the phalanges, there constituting together an 
irregularity of action which cannot otherwise than 
result in interfering. But when the injurious effect 
of shoeing in this respect is most fully realized, it is 
when the shoe has been improperly fitted or the hoof 
improperly pared. The shoes which cause trouble 
are those which are top wide ; those in which the heel 
of the inside is too long or too prominent; those 
which are too heavy ; those in which the nails have 
been left too long and too prominent : or where the 
quarters of the wall are uneven, one being higher 
than the other — all of which are points and sug- 
gestions of too great pertinence and too much 
importance to be allowed to escape the most careful 
and through examination. 

Symptoms. — The symptoms characteristic of inter- 
fering vary with the violence and duration of the 
originating cause. If the animal simply " touches " 
himself there will be no other evidence than a slight 
devitation in the direction of the hair covering the 
spot where the touch has occured, or perhaps a 
trifling mark of dirt or mud. In injuries of a severer 
character the regions may become the seat of infil- 
tration, more or less circumscribed, with heat and 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 221 

pain, the trouble passing off, however, unless there 
should be a renewal of the cause, but under its 
repetition and continuance, forming a wound of vary- 
ing depth and extent, proportioned to the amount 
of violence inflicted. The lesion may be a mere 
superficial excoriation; a cut through the dermis of 
the skin, or even penetrating beyond it, especially if 
the aggressive spot or point be hard or sharp. The 
violence with which the impinging body strikes will 
of course determine the severity of the wounds 
which it inflicts 

The fore leg at any point from the coronet to the 
knee, may become the seat of this lesion, but in the 
hinder legs, the danger is principally confined to the 
region of the fetlock. Once established, they may 
then assume any degree of severity, and range from 
a simple excoriation of the skin to a pronounced 
exhibition of gangrene, with the accompanying access 
of serious infiltration, diffused purulent accumulation, 
the sloughing of large portions of skin or extensive 
plastic exudations which, in the form of callous, 
establish a permanent deformity on the inside of the 
fetlock. 

The lameness which accompanies interfering varies 
greatly in degree, and it may occur suddenly and 
under embarrassing circumstances, as when the 
animal, while working or travelling suffers a sudden 



222 LAMEtttiSS OF HOUSES. 

pang which causes instantly to halt him or to hop On 
three legs for several steps, or until the pain vanishes. 
This is a frequent occurence on our city pavements 
and especially so among horses working on the, 
street railroads. 

There are cases in which the lameness seems to be 
suspended until the return of the horse to the stable, 
the inflammatory process appearing to wait until 
then before developing its activity. It may thus be 
of an intermittent or occasional character, or if it be 
continuous, it will be because of the repetition of the 
contusions and the maintained severity of the lesion 
In whatever degree of severity the result of interfer- 
ing may be manifested, the seat and character of the 
lesion are too specific in their nature and history to 
admit of a doubt as to their identity and their cause. 

But while the point upon which the impinging 
force falls may always be easily recognized, it is at 
once more difficult and more important to determine 
with accuracy just the aggressive point from which 
the blow comes — the spot which actively hits the 
readily seen other spot which is passively smitten 
for upon this knowledge depends the decision upon 
the proper indications of the treatment which is to 
cure or palliate the too obvious evil. A careful 
scrutiny of the direction of the legs will often assist 
the surgeon in this, but he will frequently encounter 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 223 

cases in which a resort to artificial tests will be 
necessary in order to secure a solution of the 
problem. At this point he will obtain good results 
by covering the striking foot with substances which 
will not only leave a mark upon the opposite leg, 
but receive another in exchange, thus by a reciprocal 
betrayal discovering both needed facts at once. An 
effectual method of securing a satisfactory diagnosis 
may thus be secured by smearing the foot with tar, 
or grease and chalk, in this mode, discovering by a 
single process both from whence the blow comes and 
where it falls. 

Prognosis. — In considering the injury under dis- 
cussion, and the various causes to which it may be 
referred, it becomes obvious that the question of 
prognosis is one that must receive various solutions. 
The same remark is true upon the point of the 
indications of treatment. In a case in which the 
trouble is due to a temporary weakness, which time 
and good care are adequate to relieve, the prognosis 
need not be a serious one. But if the origin of the 
evil is found in a malformation of the legs, or indeed 
a malformation of any part, a correct prognosis can 
only be" reached as the result of the critical and 
skillful investigation of each case on its own merits 
by the accomplished veterinarian, and all the more, 
as it will be all the more important, if the case should 



224 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

involve the danger and possibility of complications 
which may comprehend chronic lesions of a serious 
character. 

Treatment. — The indications for the curative treat- 
ment of the various lesions which are observable in 
connection with the vice of interfering are readily 
appreciable, and must vary in accordance with the 
special manifestations pertaining to each case as it 
occurs, whether it be of simple contusion, diffused 
inflammation, purulent collection, cutaneous slough, 
or chronic plastic exudation. In their general scope 
they consist in allaying inflammatory action, facilitat- 
ing the suppurative process, accelerating the separa- 
tion of mortified skin, and the cicatrization of the 
remaining wound, or in stimulating the absorption of 
the plastic organization which may follow. 

But the most important part of the treatment in any 
case of interfering is preeminently the prophylactic, 
and the means of preventing, removing, or diminish- 
ing the existing tendency to the habit must therefore 
rest essentially upon our knowledge of the causes 
which originate the trouble. 

In well formed horses interfering can only be the 
result of a condition of debility. The indications in 
such a case is to treat them leniently, or rather justly 
respect to their burdens, by carefully avoiding the 
imposition of exactions which may overtax their 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 225 

strength, and l>y apportioning liberal rations of 
nourishing fodder to maintain their stamina and spirit. 
Then due provision should be made for the protection 
of the legs by suitable pads, boots and bandages; 
and the most studied and careful attention should be 
bestowed on the shoeing, in doing which special 
caution should be exercised in order to avoid any 
disturbance of the equilibrium and symetry, and 
consequent bearing and general condition of the 
joints and ligaments. And it may show wisdom, 
not a little, to avoid recourse to some of the extra- 
ordinary mode of shoeing sometimes " certified " for 
their wonders of performance — which, however, may 
occasionally have their value in cases belonging to 
another category. More frequent shoeing, the care- 
ful paring of the hoof, and a judicious shortening of 
the foot will be of advantage, so long as there is no 
impairment of the conformation of the foot. A flat, 
smooth shoe, with the internal branch not beyond 
the quarter, and the heel even resting a little inside 
of it, will often meet and fully satisfy the existing 
requirements. 

When the interfering is caused by a defective 
conformation of the trunk and of the legs, the 
question to be solved is how to keep the legs suffici- 
ently separated one from another to escape the. 
contact which constitutes the trouble, According 



226 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

to Bouley, there are two ways of accomplishing this. 
The first is to give to the articular levers of the 
region which receives the blow a direction contrary, 
to that which approximates it to the part which 
inflicts it. The second is to render the blow as little 
harmful as possible, a result which can be obtained 
either by diminishing the thickness of the part 
with which it strikes, Or in conferring upon the leg 
to which this belongs, when it enters into action a 
diverging movement which will carry it from rather 
than towards, the wounded member. It must not be 
forgotten that an exceedingly minute lack of space is 
sufficient to render the injurious contact possible, 
while the narrowest space for a miss is in like 
manner sufficient to obviate the danger — it is the 
" miss-and-mile " proverb exemplified. 

S hoes of two patterns, quite differing in their forms 
are recommended. One gives an obliquity to the 
foot from above downwards, and from within outwards 
the other, on the contrary, has the obliquity from 
without inwards. In the first mode, the foot is 
pared in such a manner that the internal quarter is 
more elevated than the external, and the shoe has 
the inner branch thicker than the outer. At the 
same time, the prominence of the internal circum- 
ference of the quarter is reduced by the rasp towards 
the point which strikes, while the internal branch is 



LAMENESS OF MOUSES. 227 

placed a little on the inside of the external contour 
of the wall. In Zundel's opinion, this is probably 
the most important part of the preparation of the 
foot, and must be carefully and skilfully performed, 
with reference to the part of the wall with which the 
animal interferes, careful examination being required 
in order to determine whether the interference occurs 
at the inside toe, the quarter or the heel of the foot 
these being the points at which the changes in the 
thickness of the shoe must be made. In the second 
method, which is recommended by Garsault, Laf osse 
Moor croft, and others, the reduction by paring, and 
the changes in the thickness of the shoe are affected 
on the outside, with the rasping on the inside of the 
wall. 

There are, however, conditions of interfering which 
are not amenable to prevention by any methods of 
shoeing. The indication in such cases is to have 
recourse to the use of suitable pads, or boots, and of 
these the variety and quality are great and variable. 
It is needless to say that when any of these are used, 
there must be a careful experimental adjustment in 
each individual case. 

SPLINTS. 

A splint is an exostosis, developing in the meta- 
carpal or metatarsal region, usually upon the inner 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

side and upon the fore leg, but also occurring, 
though rarely, on the outer side and upon the hinder 
leg. Percivall designates them as the simple and 
the double, the foimer consisting in a small tumor, 
situated along the cannon bone, at the point of 
articulation with the small peroneus, and the latter, 
also known as the pegged, being formed by two pro- 
jections, one on the inside of the leg, and directly 
corresponding with it another on the outside, as if 
pinned or pegged together. The splint is also called 
& fusee, when two similar growths are united at the 
ends, one above the other. "While it is usually 
encountered in the middle region of the cannon 
bone, the splint may also be found in close proximity 
with the knee joint, in which case they are more or 
less likely to interfere with the free action of the 
carpo-metacarpal articulation. 

Occupying the lateral part of the middle meta- 
carpus, where its situation precludes it from any 
material interference with the action of the leg, the 
simple splint does not usually become an evil of very 
serious magnitude. The pegged splint is, however, 
less innocent in its possible effects, since it is not 
uncommon to find it united with exostosis on the 
posterior part of the metacarpal bone, and hence 
involving the danger of interference with the function 
of the suspensory ligament. The most dangerous 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 229 

condition of tlie splint is that which arises from its 
location, when that is near enough to the knee joint 
to involve possible interference, by its own develop- 
ment, with the freedom of that articulation. 

While the general causes of exostosis may be 
referred to, in accounting for the existence of splints, 
there is one which is probably oftener effective than 
any other, in the irritation which may take place in 
the inter-articular fibro cartilage which unites the 
articular surfaces of the small and large cannon 
bones. This irritation is a condition specially likely 
to occur in young and undeveloped animals, as the 
result of undue labor and violent exercise, particu- 
larly when the stress falls on the inside of the leg, 
and in general whenever the strength has been over- 
taxed and the vital resources are prematurely 
reduced. 

Diagnosis. — There is little, if any, difficulty attend- 
ing the diagnosis of an ordinary case of this nature, 
where the sensible phenomena are few and so obvious. 

The splint is a hard, painless tumor of the middle 
metacarpus, varying as to size and prominence. 
When not visible to the eye under ordinary observa- 
tion, it may be detected by tracing its course with 
the finger tips longitudinally along the bone, where 
it may be distinguished as a simple eminence or 
irregularity. In this stage of its progress it seldom 



230 LAMENESS OF BOUSES 

causes lameness, except possibly by some peculiarity 
of situation, and little if any apprehension need be 
felt of injurious consequences from its existence. 
But prior to the development of the osseous forma- 
tion, and while the acute periostitis alone exists, the 
diagnosis may be attended with some degree of dif- 
ficulty, although the inflammatory manifestations of 
heat and soreness on pressure may, from the first, 
suggest a correct suspicion of the truth to the expert 
and experienced veterinarian. The lameness itself 
may be present in fact, as the accompanying result 
of the acute process in progress, existing there, as 
we believe, in the intermittent form. It is then 
perhaps that it is most easily detected, when in the 
warm stage, though again we have also observed it 
when cold, j)ossibly from the fact that in this case 
the bony deposit had begun its formation. 

Prognosis. — However this may be, the prognosis of 
splints is not a serious one, since the worst conse- 
quence that can usually follow will be a blemish 
which may do no harm beyond offending the eye ; 
and it is only under very exceptional circumstances 
that the services of the surgeon are likely to be 
demanded. 

Treatment. — The treatment indicated for splints is 
that which, on general principles, is applicable to 
other exostosis. Local topics, anodyne and sedative ; 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 231 

alteratives and counter irritants; all have their 
advocates, and all modes of treatment may be 
followed by satisfactory results. Excision and 
removal by the saw and chisel is recommended by 
some, and English veterinarians consider that perios- 
totomy is often advantageous. 

BINGBONES AND SIDEBONES. 

Ringbones and Sidebones are the formes of the 
French and the leiste of the Germans, by which terms 
they describe a bony tumor which developes in the 
phalanges of the horse at the coronet region. They 
may be exostosis of the os suffraginis ; or the os 
coronae; or of the os pedis, or its cartilages, the name 
of sidebone being principally applied to this last 
form ; while that of ringbone is always limited to 
the periostitis with bony deposits of the phalanges 
proper. At whatever point it may be established ; 
and it is immaterial as to which of the phalanges 
may be its seat ; when the complete period of its 
ossification has been accomplished, its existence 
will be betrayed by the tumefaction of the region, 
more or less developed according to the dimensions 
of the growth. It is rendered more discernible by 
the eye in some situations than in others, not only 
by its size, but by the greater or less degree of 
thickening of the skin covering it. It may be deter- 



232 LAMENESS OF BOUSES. 

mined both by contrasting its form with the normal 
outline of the affected limb, and by a comparison of 
that with the unaffected member. Tested by the 
taxis, it presents a tumor of varying size and form, 
and of hard consistency, having all the characteristic 
hardness of the bony substance proper. It is situat- 
ed on the surface of the bone, or near the articular 
surfaces, passing under the tendons, or in the interior 
of the horny box. When located in the cartilage of 
the os pedis, and its calcification has been completed 
it is detected by a certain bulging of the region, 
accompanied by a loss of its proper flexibility, which 
has become exchanged for an inelastic hardness, and 
yet keeping the peculiar form of the characteristic 
cartilages. But however easy it may be to decide a 
case in which the ringbone or sidebone has completed 
its formation, it is a task of quite a different nature to 
certify the fact with accuracy while the diseased 
process is yet in its first or formative stage. For, 
while the surgeon, guided perhaps by the presence 
of a little tumefaction, or a degree of soreness or 
pressure, with more or less heat adjacent and sur- 
rounding, may easily fix upon the coronet as the seat 
of the lameness, these appearances do not constitute 
sufficient data to determine conclusively whether 
the trouble which he has encountered is an acute and 
local periostitis, or some other, and undefined injury 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 233 

of some other part of the complicated anatomical 
structure of the region involved. Under these cir- 
cumstances, the surgeon may derive important aid 
from his observation of the pain and its characteris- 
tics, as is sometimes manifested by the patient while 
under examination. If the trouble exists under the 
extensor tendon, this is exhibited when pressure is 
applied to the top of the foot, over the region of the 
cartilages, or by the forced flexion of the foot. On the 
contrary, if its seat is under the flexors, or possibly 
under the ligaments, it will be excited by excessive 
extension. 

The lameness in these cases varies in character in 
different stages of the disease. In the begining, 
while only the periostitis, and the deposite of bony 
matter is in progress, it is either not always present 
or it is not yet discernible. It may also happen that 
the morbid process may still be accomprnied by a 
degree of lameness more or less marked, notwith- 
standing the fact of its being undiscovered and 
apparently undiscoverable. 

It has also something of an intermittent character 
attending it, and is generally more marked after the 
animal has been subjected to labor, having for this 
reason been mistaken, at times, for a case of articular 
disease, such as navicularthritis. But when the bony 
deposite has become established, the lameness which 



234 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

is the result is both continuous in its nature, and 
distinctly manifest, and more generally intermittent 
in its cold condition, or when the animal is first put 
to work. It often occurs, too, that the pain is less 
the result of the inherent disorder present than of 
mechanical causes, as when the bony deposite inter- 
feres with the play of the tendons or ligaments, or, 
which is the more common case, with the motion of 
the joint, when it approaches too near the articular 
surface. In these peculiar cases, a serious compli- 
cation may in time be brought on by the retraction 
of the tendons, and the resulting inability of the foot 
to perform properly its mormal function of standing 
squarely on the flat sole. As a consequence of this 
there will be atrophy of the frog, with an abnormal 
elevation of the heels, with a distorted condition. 

Prognosis. — The prognosis of these peculiar affec- 
tions is always a serious one, since, although they do 
not invariably incapacitate the patient from labor, 
they quite frequently have that effect in utter defiance 
of any form of treatment within the scope of surgical 
skill. Nor is the size of the growth always the true 
measure of the severity of a case. It may happen 
that a larger tumor may interfere less with the 
motion of a joint than one of smaller dimensions, 
which is more acutely sensitive or has found a more 
unfortunate lodgment. 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 235 

A more serious forecast should be given in respect 
to animals requiring activity and quickness of motion 
than for those employed in labor of the opposite 
kind. With the latter, indeed, a moderate degree of 
lameness does not appear to be a disqualification 
from heavy draught work. 

Etiology. — Among the more frequent causes of 
this form of exostosis are to be reckoned blows and 
bruises, with other kinds of external injury, which 
have been followed in their order, by phlegmonous 
inflammation, abcess, and as consequence by perios- 
titis. The bruises of the cartilages are commonly 
followed by chronditis, and this ends in calcification 
of this fibro- cartilage ; and as in fact, this peculiar 
tissue possesses a natural tendency to this alterna- 
tive process, it becomes easily obvious that but a 
slight inflammatory impulse will be needed in order 
to establish the change. 

Pressure, sprains of the ligaments and tendons, 
and their laceration from their periosteal attach- 
ments, as they are commonly suffered from badly 
paved streets and rough roads, and slippery tracks, 
are more commonly accompanied by first, a local 
phalangeal periostitis, and subsequently, by the 
ringbone or bony deposit, of slow growth. The 
exposure, if not the easier liability of young animals 
to these injuries is greater than -that in older ones — 



266 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

a fact aptly illustrated by their frequency among the 
colts designed and put under training for the race 
tract — and short jointed animals may be added to 
the same list from the fact of the more vertical 
direction of the phalanges, which renders them more 
apt to receive the concussions of locomotion or the 
weight of the body more directly than if the obli- 
quity of the bones had been more marked. 

These exostosis are frequently among the conse- 
quences of arthritis in one or other of the phalangeal 
joints, or they may appear as the sequelae of trau- 
matic lesions of the foot, such as cartilaginous 
quittor, complicated toe ur quarter crack, suppurative 
corn, or punctured wounds of the foot. It is our 
belief that navicular disease is very commonly 
associated with exostosis of the phalanges, though 
during life it very often escapes observation. They 
are also among the sequelae of lesions of the bones, 
fractures of the phalanges being always complicated 
by the development of ringbones, without reference 
to the point where the fracture has been, with or 
without displacement. 

"While refering to the causes of ringbone, that of 
heredity, unquestioningly admitted into the category 
by old hippiatrics, must not be overlooked. And 
while the influence of this cause may have been 
unduly exagerated, our own observation of the 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 237 

transmissibility of this and other qualities, through 
the natural generation channels have at least brought 
us to a conviction of the wisdom and policy of ex- 
cluding animals affected with ringbone from the stud. 

Some German authors have strongly advocated the 
exclusion of drinking water containing an undue 
proportion of calcareous elements, as part of the 
prophylaxy of the case, but opinions are not yet 
settled upon the point thus suggested. 

Treatment. — The discovery of periostitis of the 
phalanges, when established beyond a doubt, should 
be promptly followed by active treatment, compre- 
hending local applications, such as cold bandages, 
and anodyne and sedative embrocations, such as a 
mixture of tincture of aconite and iodine in equal 
parts, applied by means of compresses. An active 
soreness is often relieved by these and kindred 
measures and appliances. But in our own view, and 
our conviction has become established by long 
experience, the actual cautery offers the most satis- 
factory of known means for checking the formation 
of the bony deposits, and possibly promoting the 
absorption of such as have already formed. The 
application of cauterization in points, and principally 
the needle method has in our hands proved most of 
any successful. The danger of extensive sloughing 
of the skin, apprehended by Zundel, is an exaggerated 



238 LAMENESS OE HORSES. 

one, and is a complication which in a large practice of 
many years we have not yet encountered. But as in 
other exostosis of joints, in bone spavin, for example a 
single firing may not in every instance prove sufficient, 
and a repetition may become necessary after an in- 
terval of four or five weeks from the first firing. 
Many practitioners recommend counter irritation by 
cantharides, or with preparations of iodine or 
mercury. This treatment offers at least the advantage 
of facility of repetition, and of avoiding subsequent 
visible blemishes, which the hot iron cannot always 
promise. The operation of periostotomy can be 
regarded with but little satisfaction, being certainly 
often useless, and at times involving great danger to 
the patient. 

The extirpation of the sidebone may sometimes be 
undertaken with advantage, but the operation is not 
without danger, and must be recommended with 
caution, except when with calcification, there is also 
necrosis of the cartilage. When performed it will 
be the same complicated, operation of removal which 
is practiced in cases of quittor. 

"When the lameness resists, every other form of 
treatment, the operation of neurotomy may be ad- 
vantageously resorted to. This subject has recently 
awakened an interest among coutemporary French 
writers, and both the value of the operation itself 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 23$ 

and the question of the modus operandi have been 
largely discussed, the contention principally refering 
to the comparative merits of the high operation and 
che low We have ourselves given a large amount 
of study personally to the subject and have operated 
very fequently, and we have always practised the 
high operation in preference to the other mode. The 
result has been, in our hands, very generally success- 
ful, and as regards the frequent complications which 
by some practitioners are accounted so many object- 
ions to this treatment, we have had the good fortune 
entirely to escape them. We have operated on both 
sides of the fetlock, and on that point, must wholly 
dissent from the opinion of that class of practitioners 
who insist upon the necessity of an interval of six 
weeks between the several operations on either side. 
It is quite true, however, that a certain interval of 
rest between the operations is always of advantage 
to the patient when more than one leg is to be 
operated. 

HYDRAKTHEOSIS. 
WINDGALLS. 

The fetlock joint and the synovial surface which 
assist in the gliding of the flexor tendons upon the 
sesamoid pulley have a tendency to become the seat 
of certain abnormal dilatations, known as ivindgalls, 
which are farther described as articular or tendinous, 



U6 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

with reference to their situation within the articular 
or the tendinous synovial sac. 

"When the synovia contained in the capsules of the 
metacarpo 01 metatarsophalangeal joints is secreted 
in an abnormal quantity the excessive secretion 
becomes the cause of certain tumors, quite uniform 
in their situation. Strongly confined in front of the 
joint by the capsular, and on its side by the lateral 
ligaments, the synovial sac can only expand on the 
posterior part of the joint, between the posterior 
face of the cannon bone, and the anterior face of the 
suspensory ligament, where it extends its superior 
cul de sac ; or below the great sesamoids, between 
the posterior face of the os suffraginis and the middle 
inferior sesamoid ligament. It is in these two direct- 
ions that the excess of the synovial fluid accumulates, 
and expands each cul de sac, as it is formed by the 
synovial capsules. By the principle of their forma- 
tion ; these projections, formed by the distended sacs, 
are only accurately defined as they extend above the 
sesamoids to the border of the cannon bone and 
behind the prominent branches of the suspensory 
ligament. They then appear under the form of 
small tumors, tense and elastic when the leg is at 
rest and the synovia pushed backwards, but soft and 
reducible under pressure when the foot is raised and 
the fetlock flexed. 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 241 

With time these tumors may enlarge until they 
attain the dimensions of a hen's egg. Sometimes 
they will acquire a more or less bosselated surface, 
on account of the uneven resistance of the walls 
of the cavity which determines their shape. And as 
they extend upwards sufficiently, between the bone 
and the suspensory ligament in front of which they 
are situated, they will continue to contract in size 
with the lessening space which contains them. 

As they reach a degree of development which in- 
dicates that they have become filled to the limit of 
the capacity of their cavity, the inferior cul de sac of 
the capsule, which has a tendency to form a hernia 
below the sesamoids, exhibits, behind the first 
phalanx, at the side of the middle and superficial 
inferior sesamoid ligaments hard nodosities, very 
tense when the foot is at rest, but also easily redu- 
cible when it is flexed. 

With age, a pathological change takes place in the 
articular windgall, and it assumes a fibrous texture, 
through the exudation of plastic lymph in its meshes, 
and subsequently becomes infiltrated with calcareous 
deposites, when it is distinguished as an indurated 
windgall. 

The synovial capsule of the fetlock cannot long 
continue subject to these various degrees of pressure 
without exhibiting some alteration in the symmetry 



242 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

of the articular levers, and they do in fact, in due 
time after undergoing the necessary amount of con- 
tineous force, succumb to the slow operation of the 
aggressive violence, and yield the evidence of its 
effects in a greater or less degree of change of 
direction of the joint. The mode of deviation which 
this persevering pressure of the incompressible fluid 
finally effects is that which has a tendency to 
straighten them on each other, and, as a consequence, 
we are presented with a case of the first degree of 
knuckling. 

In the tendinous windgall it is the synovial bursse 
of the flexor tendons which acquires this abnormal 
dilatation and exaggerated fullness, the tendinous 
capsule being larger than the articular, as well as 
less restrained by its surrounding tissues, the tumors 
which result from its distention being therefore of 
correspondingly greater size than those of the 
articular variety. They reach their greatest devel- 
opment above the sesamoids, where the capsule is 
least protected. They first appear as small, soft 
tumors, elongated in the direction of the tendons, 
and a little outwards from the tendon of the deep 
flexor of the phalanges, immediately above the 
sesamoids, and as they develope, they extend up- 
wards, projecting more and more outwardly, with 
increasing power of resistance to pressure, and 



LAMENESS OE HOUSES. 243 

extending backwards over the tendons, as if about 
to envelope them. When the synovial bursa?, at a 
later period, has reached their maximum distention, 
they assume the form of quite prominent oval 
tumors, which offer considerable resistance to pres- 
sure when the foot is on the ground ; the surface is 
irregular, and surrounding both the tendons, they 
extend from the button of the small cannon bone, 
a point beyond which they seldom pass to down- 
wards, when they extend to the sesamoid pulley, 
where the aponeurosis, which bounds the flexor 
tendons, binds them firmly and apparently separates 
them from the inferior tendinous windgalls, of which 
they are in fact but the continuity, the synovial 
bursa? obviously extending to the os corona?. 

The tendinous windgalls never assume dimensions 
below the sesamoids equal to those which they 
possess at the sesamoid cul de sac, being prevented 
by the apeneurotic apparatus surrounding the ten- 
dons and the phalanges. But there are two points, 
immediately below the sesamoids, where a diminu- 
tion of resistance permits a certain dilatation of the 
bursa?, and here their appearance becomes altered to 
that of two small, softish tumors, more easily 
detected by the touch than by the eye, and com- 
municating with the superior sesamoid tendinous 
windgalls. 



244 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

This class of tumor assumes at times a condition 
of induration, but is subject to this change only 
above the sesamoids, and like the articular dilata- 
tions, it also possesses a tendency to impair the 
symmetry of the parts, though not to the same 
extent. 

A hydrarthrosis of the fetlock is rarely in itself a 
direct cause of lameness, and it can only become so 
through the mechanical obstruction which the tumor 
offers to the free action of the joint, or when its 
functions are interfered with by some pathological 
change of structure. Or again, when the joint has 
become the seat of a recent acute inflammatory 
attack, to be diagnosticated in the usual way by rise 
of temperature of the parts and other evidences of 
tenderness and pain, to be detected by pressure. 

The causes of the hydrarthrosis itself may be again 
enumerated, like those of most of the articular 
lesions of a similar kind, as excessive labor, violent 
exertions, slipping or other misstepping, wrenching 
the joint, etc. Lameness or other disability in one 
leg may also cause it, indirectly, in the sound one, 
by throwing upon the latter a disproportionate share 
of labor. And probably a predisposing habit may 
have its influence in lymphatic subjects, or in animals 
reared in overdamp and marshy grounds. 

According to some authors, the disappearance of 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 245 

a windgall may be sometimes looked for as the 
result of rest, the resolution of all the symptoms, 
and the absorption of the excessive synovial secre- 
tion. But their most common termination, in fact, 
is the attainment of a permament chronic form, with 
the exhibition, during the remaining life of the 
patient, of all the concomitant symptoms and cha- 
racteristics attendant on the case, and unaffected by 
the consideration of any changes of structure in the 
affected region, which, if present, exists only as 
independent phenomena. 

Prognosis. — When the most serious effect of a wind- 
gall is to constitute a disfigurement in the limb of the 
affected animal, without materially interfering with 
his power to labor, the prognosis cannot be of a very 
serious character. But we must except from so 
lenitive a judgment the cases which involve certain 
peculiar conditions of mechanical interference with 
the free motion of the joint, and we must emphasize 
the unfavorable view which a large experience has 
compelled us to adopt, and to repeat the opinion 
that their removal is very seldom successfully 
accomplished, except under special circumstances, 
and by a very special form of treatment yet to occupy 
our attention. 

Treatment. — In view of the fact that peculiar 
hygienic conditions have, admittedly, an important 



246 LAMENESS OF MOUSES. 

causative connection with the origin of these dropsies 
of the synovial sacs, the indications in respect to the 
prophylactic portion of the subject at once suggests 
the question of better breeding, with the study and 
adaption, and change, when necessary, of climate ; 
the quality of the food and drinking water ; the kind 
and amount of labor, with reference to strength, age 
and build ( a most important study) ;. and briefly, all 
the conditions and requisites of sound and healthy 
conception, vitality and growth. 

In respect to curative treatment, pressure, probably 
because of the facility with which the means can be 
applied, is the method most popularly and frequently 
employed. And it cannot be doubted that the 
application of bandages of various forms has in many 
instances proved, if not positively curative, at least 
largely palliative : if it has not extirpated the disease, 
it has at least retarded its progress and checked its 
indefinite increase. Local applications, when the 
parts are in an inflammatory condition, consisting of 
astrigent and stimulating frictions, counter irritation 
with blisters of cantharides, or alteratives of iodine 
and mercury — all these have their advocates and are 
largely employed. We have already said, in reference 
to the treatment of other joints similarly affected, 
that we prefer the early use of the actual cautery, 
and we repeat our conviction. In some cases firing 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 247 

in lines, and in others the method by points, or 
with the needle iron, will secure the best results, and 
most efficiently correct the growth and remove the 
lameness. 

A simple puncture with the bistoury or the trocar, 
either subcutaneously or directly through the skin, 
the puncture and emptying of the sac, followed by 
the injection of a weak solution of tincture of iodine, 
galvanic electricity, or galvano-puncture, are, all of 
them, recommended and practised, But all these 
modes of treatment having already passed under our 
notice in preceeding pages, in which we have con- 
sidered the general treatment of hydrarthrosis, a 
further reference here to their characteristic effects 
and relative values would be needlessly repetitious. 

SPEAINS. 

SPRAINS OF THE FLEXOR TENDONS. 

The lesion ordinarily known as clap of the back 
sineivs, or broken dozen, is an injury of the general 
nature of sprain of the fibrous structure of the 
posterior part of the cannon region. It may be 
either metacarpal or metatarsal, and consists in a 
diseased condition of either the tendons of the 
phalangeal flexors or their sheath, or, according to 
Williams, of the reinforcing ligamentous band which, 
situated below the knee and hock, extends from the 



248 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

posterior fibrous covering of those joints to the 
tendons of the flexor perforans. 

Etiology. — Among the causes from which this con- 
dition most commonly arises are those to which 
lacerations of the fibrous textures are commonly due 
by reason of their forcible over extension. As a 
natural consequence, animals engaged in hard and 
heavy hauling, which involves the extensive stretch- 
ing of these inelastic fibres, are the most frequent 
sufferers from sprains of this class. A single misstep, 
a sadden slipping on an icy or oily surface, may be 
sufficient to cause the lesion ; its sudden appearance 
in the racer, either while training, or while engaged 
in the struggle for which his training is designed to 
prepare him, is a sufficiently common occurence to 
suggest the true solution of the phenonemon. The 
hunter and the steeple chaser, as they are exposed 
to the danger at its maximum, become the best 
examples and evidences of the methods most liable 
to produce this variety of sprained legs. 

Symptoms. — The symptoms of these lesions are 
usually sufficiently distinct and intelligible. Lame- 
ness is commonly present, sometimes in a very marked 
and at others in a very slight degree, as determined 
by the amount of the violence to which it is due. 
On passing the hand over the parts, a swelling may 
be felt, which may be perhaps but a slight and single 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 249 

bulging backwards, or it may be a diffused enlarge- 
ment along the track of the tendons, with a develop- 
ment of heat and pain ranging in degree from the 
slightest to the severest. The attitude of the horse, 
as he stands with the lame foot flexed and resting on 
the toe, with the heels elevated, sufficiently suggests 
the true state of things to the mind of the experienced 
and observant surgeon. 

When the sprain of the metacarpal or metatarsal 
region becomes a serious matter — and it is seldom 
otherwise — it is, however, less a lesion per se, than 
from a consideration of the peculiar resulting 
condition in which it may leave the tendons and 
ligaments. A chronic thickening of the parts, with 
a gummy condition of the leg may be included in 
this, and there is a plastic infiltration which alters 
the general aspect of the back sinews and interferes 
with their general functions by rendering them 
adherent one to the other. It is from this chronic 
condition of the lesion that serious trouble is to be 
apprehended. The tendons being prevented from 
exercising their proper functions, become retracted, 
and then follows the peculiar change which is 
designated as knuckling at the fetlock — an evil of 
serious character, and which not only demands the 
application of skilful surgery, but too often fails to 
become amenable to its benefits. 



250 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

The treatment indicated for sprains of this region, 
and it is one which nearly all writers agree in 
recommending, consists in local applications, by 
some of hot and by others of cold water — and hot 
fomentations, often repeated and aided by warm 
bandages, are indeed, in many cases, followed by 
excellent results. By others, howe\er, showering 
with cold water, cold douches and cold water band- 
ages are preferred. Local topical treatment has, 
without doubt, its important advantages but what- 
ever these may be, they are seldom, if ever, effective 
in preventing the exudation through the meshes of 
the injured structure, which, though a natural 
necessity for the repairing process, must, if possible, 
be kept under such control as will prevent the 
extensive chronic alterations which have a tendency 
to supervene. It is for this reason that early resort 
should be had to remedial measures. These, as 
nearly all the writers agree, consist in counter 
irritation by means of blisters or alterative ointments, 
to be followed, if ineffectual, by firing and operation, 
which, in the opinion of many, furnishes the only 
means by which good horses, under such circum- 
stances can preserve their usefulness and value. 
It is Per ci vail who says — " By the firing iron have 
" horses originally worth their hundreds of pounds 
" sterling, been raised fiom knacker's price to their 



LAMENESS OF MORSES. 251 

ft former Value. By the firing iron has many a broken 
"down hunter and many a racer been joyously 
" restored to his station and rank in the field where 
" his proudest laurels have been won." 

But with all these various therapeutic indications, 
there are two others which the attending surgeon 
cannot afford to overlook and, when necessary, to 
insist upon. The first is proper shoeing. If a low, 
thin heeled shoe is a predisposing condition of the 
development of sprain of the back sinew, the indica- 
tion for its prevention will be to look for relief in a 
high heeled shoe, in order to keep the tendon in a 
state of relaxation. 

The second is long rest. It must not be for- 
gotten or overlooked that from the structure of the 
tissues involved in the repairing process, the work 
of complete cicatrization is a slow and tedious one. 

BUPTURE OF THE SESAMOID LIGAMENTS. 

We are disposed to think that much that has been 
uttered by authors as particularly applicable to this 
species of injury has been, in some measure, 
unnecessarily written, and that much that has been 
said on the subject of sprains of the tendons applies 
equally to those of the superior sesamoid ligament. 
Of similar structure, the composition of both being 
the same white, inelastic, fibrous tissue, though 



252 LAMENESS OF MOUSES. 

having, it is true, a different function, yet, as they 
both act as supporting and strengthening elements 
of the fetlock, they must need be exposed to similar 
injuries, arising from the same causes, and their 
manifestations should become, therefore, of very 
much the same character. The principal difference 
lies in the circumstances that the location of the 
swelling, when limited to the ligament, is a little 
more forward and in front of the tendons, and varies 
therefore from that which occurs when the tendon is 
the immediate seat of injury. 

There is also a peculiar lesion of this ligamentous 
apparatus, which we have frequently met with, 
especially in American horses, consisting in a com- 
plete rupture of one or both branches of this 
ligament, as they are inserted at the apex of the 
sesamoids. We cannot accept the theory that this 
is essentially a lesion of the suspensory ligament, as 
held by some authors, since the same kind of accident 
may and does, in fact, occur by the giving way of the 
inferior sesamoid ligament. 

The first mention of this disease of the ligament- 
ous structure of the fetlock was made by our friend, 
Professor A. Large, in an appendix to an American 
edition of Stonehenge on " The Horse, in the Stable 
and the Field," published about twenty years ago. 

The disease is a peculiar one, and the suddenness 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 253 

of its appearance, with its occurence in different feet 
separately and without discernible cause, proves 
that the parts have been the seat of some latent 
disorder or some change which must have been for 
some unknown time in progress. No class of 
animals appears to be specially subject to attack, 
although there are circumstances of peculiar liability, 
as for example the protracted stabling of animals 
which are long kept unemployed, as racing horses, 
kept from their accustomed exercise during the 
discontinuance of racing and in inclement weather. 
Although the history of these cases is a uniform one, 
there is still some difference in individual cases, in 
the manner in which the symptoms make their 
appearance. In some of these the lameness will sud- 
denly manifest itself in one or both feet of a biped, 
either fore or hinder, quite in the absence of any 
known cause, as a misstep or the like, and it may 
either appear in a very severe form, or only become 
discoverable by a slight irregularity or uncertainty 
of gait while walking, much resembling in this 
respect the action characteristic of an acute attack of 
laminitis. Though closely examined throughout the 
entire extremity, the parts fail to reveal any well 
marked changes. A little swelling, perhaps , a slight 
perceptible heat at the fetlock, and often an increase 
of pain on lateral pressure over the sesamoidal 



254 LAMMESS OF MOUSES. 

region, may be all. In the stall, the patient may be 
observed to prefer the recumbent position, and can 
only with difficulty be made to support himself on his 
feet, and when compelled to stand upright, betrays 
the pain which it occasions by the swaying movement 
of the body as he shifts his weight from side to side. 
The manner of the access of the disease is some- 
times quite a surprise to the inexperienced. The 
animal has perhaps been kept at rest in the stable, 
in consequence of his lameness, and has been for an 
indefinite period under treatment, without any dis- 
tinctly marked symptoms or external manifestations, 
when at some unexpected moment he is found lying 
helpless in his stall, with one or both of the fetlocks 
apparently fractured. The standing position has 
become impossible — the foot no longer rests on the 
sole, but rather on the back of the heels — the toes 
point upward, the fetlock is almost in contact with 
the ground. Nor is it very unusual to encounter this 
same state of collapse under other circumstances, 
and without the preliminary or premonitous lame- 
ness. But when this occurs, it is while the animal 
is performing his usual labor that the collapse takes 
place. For example, although he may neither be at 
heavy work, nor moving rapidly, but simply travel- 
ing at an ordinary and moderate gait, such as he has 
long been accustomed to, a change may suddenly 



LAMENESS OF HOMES. 255 

Occur in his movements ; his step will shorten, and 
he will suddenly stop, apparently attacked with 
sharp and excruciating pains. He betrays great 
uneasiness, becomes evidently unable to stand, and 
falls on the spot. If urged to rise he makes a 
violent effort to regain his feet, and this completes 
the trouble; it is the final struggle, and it ends in 
lacerating the remaining fibres of the ligaments, and 
causing the foot to assume the peculiar appearance 
alluded to, by the lowering of the fetlocks and 
upward pointing of the toes. 

From the numerous post mortem examinations we 
have made of injuries of this class, we have become 
convinced that the true seat of disease is not, strictly, 
the ligaments alone, from the fact that in the many 
legs we have dissected for purposes of inspection, we 
have never failed to discover fragments of bony 
tissue at the points of insertion of the ligaments, 
where they had been torn from the bone. If the 
superior sesamoid ligament had been the seat of the 
lesion, the fragments would belong to the apex of 
the large sesamoid bones, but if, on the contrary, 
the lesion was upon the inferior ligaments, the frag- 
ments would be from the base of the bones, or the 
portion of the fibrous pad, which occupies the 
posterior face and superior extremity of the os 
corona, upon which they were inserted. 



256 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

Great care is demanded in the diagnosis of these 
cases. If the truth is to be discovered, the inves- 
tigation must be of the most rigid character, and in 
point of fact all that can be assuredly determined 
under any circumstances amounts only to the dis- 
covery of grounds for a reasonable suspicion and a 
conditional hypothesis, which can only be settled 
absolutely by the final test of the upturned toes, and 
then the chances of successful treatment will all 
have passed away. 

But little can be said in respect to the treatment 
of this lesion. Splints and bandages, or other 
artificial supports may be employed to keep the foot 
in proper condition, and to support the fetlock, and 
the patient may be shod with high heeled shoes, or 
may be put in slings, if he will stand. But although 
these appliances are indicated, we are constrained to 
say that our own experience has been so discourag- 
ing in our attempts to overcome the evil and the 
results so uniformly negative, that we have been at 
length driven to the theory that a report of a case 
of injury of the suspensory ligament and a 
record of a mistaken diagnosis form but a single 
variorum statement of the same incident, and can be 
easily subjected to a double or single interpretation, 
at pleasure. 

Cases have occured in our own practice, in which 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 257 

we have made a diagnosis of incipient rupture of the 
ligaments of the fetlock, and after keeping our 
patients under treatment for weeks and months, have 
ordered their discharge in an apparently improved 
condition, only to see them break down the very 
first time their fetlock joints were subjected to the 
stress of a performance of their normal physio- 
logical functions. 

Quite evidently the period which marks the com- 
pletion of the breaking down process marks also the 
end of the possibilities of curative surgery, while at 
the same time it indicates the moment when it 
becomes a duty to call upon the knacker to terminate 
the miseries of the incurable sufferer. 

SPKAIN OP THE FETLOCK JOINT. 

The fetlock joint is an angular ginglymus, or 
perfect hinge, in which but two normal movements, 
those of flexion and extension, can occur. Lateral 
motion is extremely limited, almost entirely wanting, 
in fact, on account of the resistance of the lateral 
ligaments, which unite together the four bones which 
compose the joint. When a sprain of this articulation 
occurs, it is as the result of either excessive flexion 
or extension, or of some violent force applied 
laterally. There may also be tearing, a partial 
laceration, and even a complete rupture of the 



258 tAMENXSS OP HOMES. 

fibrous apparatus, by which the bones are bound in 
their place. 

If the excessive motion has taken place at the 
moment of the flexion of the joint, the sprain will be 
on the anterior part of the articulation, and will be 
so designated; or posterior when occuring on that 
side, or lateral external or lateral internal, according to 
circumstances of location, otherwise. 

In a sprained fetlock the pain becomes at once 
manifest, and its seat maybe ascertained immediately 
after the injury has been received. The inflam- 
mation rapidly supervenes, and the development of 
the symptoms which accompany it will correspond 
with the severity of the injury. The intensity of the 
pain is greatly aggravated by the increase cf the 
inflammation, and this again is soon followed by a 
large swelling of the part, which may soon indeed 
become sufficiently extensive so entirely to surround 
the joint so as to render it a matter of difficulty 
positively to define the extent or even to determine 
the true nature of the lesion. The soreness is 
excessive, and its expression may be taken as a 
measure of the severity of the existing injury. 

A slight tenderness, rapidly passing off, indicates 
nothing worse than a simple distension of the 
articular apparatus, comparatively harmless ; a 
severer and more continuous pain implies over- 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 259 

stretching, with, partial laceration of ligamentous 
fibres : a pain at once severe and increasing will 
usually indicate an injury of a character correspond- 
ingly serious. 

The lameness by which the various degrees of 
pain are manifested may vary in its expression from 
a mere timidity and caution in placing the foot on 
the ground to its complete disuse, when the animal 
carries it in the air and hops on his three sound limbs. 

The swelling which exists in a sprained fetlock is 
at first oedematous and warm, and comparatively 
painless. It surrounds the joint and extends more 
or less below or above it, but before long may be 
observed to extend from the subcutaneous cellular 
tissue, where it was first limited, to the synovial 
membrane, (articular or tendinous), where there is 
an accumulation of synovial fluid, which fills up the 
joint, increases the pain and forms especially on 
each side, above and below the sesamoids, true 
windgalls, hard, more or less elastic and compress- 
ible and very painful, not only upon pressure, but 
sometimes to the mere touch. While the fetlock is 
the seat of this highly inflammatory condition, the 
pain endured by the patient will, according to its 
degree, be evidenced by the position in which the 
diseased leg is held, by the manner in which it is 
placed on the ground, and often by the general 



260 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

condition of the patient. In serious cases the leg is 
carried in semi-flexion, in order that it may be 
relieved from contributing its share of support to the 
weight of the body, which is then of course carried 
by the three sound limbs ; or if possibly the pain 
exists in a degree too slight to interfere materially 
with the act of locomotion, the limb will be used, 
but only with great hesitancy, and will be lifted with 
an unusual quickness. In cases of mitigated severity 
an antero-posterior motion or balancing of the leg 
may be sufficient to relieve the possible pressure of 
the tendons upon the distended synovial sac. The 
general symptoms will vary with the severity of the 
local trouble and with the impressionable suscepti- 
bility of the patient. 

The terminations common to all inflammations 
occur also in sprains of the fetlock. They end 
in resolution or suppuration, or lapse into the 
chronic state. The first, in cases of various degrees 
of severity, is the most common. "When the lesion 
is but slight, the inflammation and swelling soon 
subside, and the limb soon resumes its ability to carry 
weight and perform freely its proper and normal 
movements. The same stages of recovery occur in 
severer cases, but with less rapidity, proportioned to 
the degree of the injury and the recuperative power 
of the patient's constitution, 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 261 

But suppuration is comparatively a rare result, not 
generally observed, except when the sprain is com- 
plicated with some lesion differing from that of the 
ligaments, as a fracture or some special injury of the 
bones, in which cases all the symptoms of suppurative 
arthritis soon appear. But if suppuration is rare, 
the establishment of the chronic condition is not. 

Serious alterations of all the tissues of the joint 
may be expected to follow severe cases of sprain of 
the joint itself, the liability including all the consti- 
tuents of the articulation, comprehending the bones, 
the ligaments and the synovial membranes, with both 
th 3 suspensory and the motor apparatus. The bones 
may undergo an enlargement of their articular ex- 
tremities, and sometimes of the first, or even the 
second phalanx, the ligaments suffer induration, 
with morbid hypertrophy at their points of insertion 
and the tendons undergo tumefaction in their own 
structure, with induration of their cellular tissue or 
of that which surrounds them. These various changes 
are slow in their development, and it is only after 
the subsidence of the acute inflammation that their 
existence can be accurately ascertained. 

When the chronic character has become established, 
it will also have brought with it a permanent lame- 
ness, varying in degree and character, according to 
the nature and intensity of the lesions which interfere 



262 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

with the regular functions of the several elements of 
the joint. 

Even when the inflammation has terminated by 
resolution, a sprain of the fetlock is always a serious 
evil. The joint becomes permanently weakened, 
tender, and painful, in varying degrees, corresponding 
to the intensity of the symptoms attending the 
original injury, with a predisposition to swelling and 
soreness, and inability, frequently, to tolerate even 
the moderate and regular exercise to which it has 
long become accustomed; and the lameness becomes 
permanent. 

As with sprains otherwise located to which we 
have alluded elsewhere, those of the fetlock occur 
principally as the result of missteps; sudden slipping, 
outwardly or inwardly, resting the leg in a strained 
or contorted position, as on an oblique surface ; and 
more particularly, as the result of an excessively 
rapid gait, as in training, racing, hunting or steeple 
chasing, and the like. Among the most efficient 
causes are badly constructed roads, especially such 
as are excessively convex on the crown and sloping 
at the sides, and on which it is impossible for the 
animal to preserve the proper vertical position in 
the bony columns of the leg, or the requisite direct- 
ness in the pull of the muscles. A sprain may also 
easily follow the violent struggling of an animal to 



LAMENESS OF BO&SES. 263 

liberate an entangled foot from the obstruction 
of a broken pavement or frozen rut which has en- 
trapped it and it is an ooccurrence common enough 
where there are street rail tracks waiting to crash 
the feet of beast. They are often received while 
traveling rapidly on rough and irregular roads, or 
when carrying, a heavy rider or moving a heavy 
load, and they sometimes occur though a predispo- 
sition, arising from some abnormality of action oi 
conformation, as, for example, in an animal affected 
with a tendency to knuckling. 

The various degrees and lesions of sprained fetlock 
are of course suggestive of a like variety of indications 
as to modes of treatment applicable to the different 
classes of lesion which must be encountered. 

In the matter of treatment the first indication is 
the prevention of the development of excessive in- 
flarnation, by the use of cooling applications, repeated 
and continued, in the form of baths, and bandages 
kept constantly wet. The agent employed is either 
simply water or medicated compresses,* or salted 
water, with the addition of acetate of lead, or sulphate 
of iron, or perhaps phenic acid. Massage of the 
joint is often strongly commended. This treatment 
consists of various manipulations by the hand, applied 
with repetition from simple friction to severe press- 
ing and continued for hours, and followed by pro- 



2G4 LAM&NMSS OF HOUSES. 

during more or less passive motion in the affected 
parts. It is a prudent measure however, to follow it 
with a supplementary application of supporting 
bandages snugly adjusted. The parts are sometimes 
previously wrapped in soft pads of oakum, either 
dry or moistened with some medicated mixtures. 
But the application of dry compressive bandages, 
with splints of firm pasteboard, or gutta percha, or 
the various preparations of dextrine, as used in 
human surgery is a better and wiser measure. The 
padded compressive bandage of Vatel, moistened with 
Goulard's extract, or poultices of astringent material, 
will be found very beneficial. Zundel's excellent 
prescription cannot easily be improved. It consists 
in an immovable plaster, composed of one ounce of 
pulverised burnt alum, mixed with the whites of 
half a dozen eggs, carefully and thoroughly applied j 
in order to form a mould, as in a case of fracture. 
This soon consolidates over the parts and insures a 
solid and symmetrical pressure upon the joint, and 
by precluding all possible motion contributes one of 
the most essential conditions of recovery in a most 
efficient manner, and to any desirable extent. The 
continuance of the appliance for a week will frequently 
end in perfect recovery, and if that period should be 
insufficient, it is but required to extend the time a 
little, to accomplish the result. This part of the 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 265 

treatment may be safely left to the direction of the 
" nurse. " 

Blisters, or strong liniments, such as the oil of 
cantharides, may be employed with similar effect 
though varying in their mode of action. They are 
indicated in severe cases, after the subsidence of the 
inflammation, and are not only serviceable through 
their salutary influence as counter-irritants, but also 
by performing the functions of bandages or other 
restraining dressings, by means of the crusts or scabs 
which they form by mixing with the serosity which 
exudes from the skin and dries in the form of an ex- 
temporised moulding envelope, or pseudo splint. 

The emollient treatment recommended by German 
veterinarians cannot appeal to any lengthy record 
of accomplished successes for a favorable verdict, or 
general adoption. The good results claimed for it 
are not frequently or tangibly present, and it is quite 
too apt to lead or assist the formation of the 
suppurative termination, which we are well aware is 
a complication altogether too likely to become the 
precursor of the most unfavorable of results, to be 
risked by a prudent practitioner. 

When all milder means have been attended by 
failure, and the disease has attained the chronic 
character, more energetic treatment must of course 
be instituted. In this the alteratives and absorbents 



m LAMENESS OF SOUSES. 

must be given a place among topical applications, and 
among these again the ointment of iodide of mercury 
is conspicuously advantageous. But above them all, 
the actual cautery, in lines or points — as we have 
repeatedly urged in respect to kindered ailments of 
the horse holds the preeminence, in the certainty of 
its beneficient effects. Bouley pronounces it to be 
the remedy par excellence against the chronic articular 
swellings which follow the sprain^ of joints : a 
renewal of the application, may however, be some- 
times necessary. 

KNUCKLING. 

This deformity consists in a deviation from their 
normal direction of the bones of the fetlock joint, 
caused by their straightening. It can scarcely be 
considered a genuine disease of that part of the leg, 
however, since it almost always occurs as the result 
of disorders affecting other parts of the digital region- 
Among the diseased processes of a chronic nature of 
which it becomes the consequence and sequel, may 
be enumerated ruptures of tendons and ligaments, 
with swelling and plastic infiltration ; hydrarthrosis 
of large size ; large windgalls ; and chronic affections 
of the phalangeal region, such as ringbones ; or it 
may complicate and supplement severe surgical 
operations upon the foot — or it may result from old 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. £67 

diseases or deep punctured wounds of that member. 
All of these constitute conditions involving the same 
result and effect, in the long rest to which the tendons 
and ligaments are subjected, and the gradual retrac- 
tion of their substances culminates at length in the 
pronounced immobility of the joint. 

All these may be fairly characterized as traumatic 
or symptomatic causes. But there are other causes 
as well, to which the idiopathic designation may be 
applied. Among these may be included a predispos- 
ing tendency or malformation, as when the pasterns 
are already disposed to assume a too upright direct- 
ion ; or an improper shoeing, which may facilitate 
their development by increasing the strain upon the 
tendons ; or again, it may be induced by some 
peculiarity in the kind of labor to which the animal 
is subjected, which causes a special or excessive 
strain upon the resisting power of the fibrous tissues, 
beyond their ability to sustain. 

The deformity is slow in establishing itself, but is 
not without certain progressive steps or degrees; 
before reaching its completed growth. The respect- 
ive duration of these progressive periods, varying 
with different patients and cases, admits of the 
arrangement of the process into three degrees or 
stages of growth. 

The first of these stages or degrees exhibits all 



268 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

the bony levers of the digital region, the cannon bone 
the os suffraginis and os coronae,in a nearly straight 
vertical line, or it may be an aggravated condition of 
the upright pastern. 

In the second degree the articular levers unite to 
form a very obtuse angle opening backwards, with 
the apex turned forward at the centre of the 
articulation. 

In the third degree the first phalanx is greatly 
inclined from before backwards, and with the cannon 
bone with which it articulates, forms almost a- right 
angle, opening backwards in such a manner that a 
line drawn vertically from the apex of the angle, or 
centre of the joint, would pass down in front of the 
toe, on which then the foot generally rests. 

There is in this case an almost total dislocation of 
the fetlock joint, the natural coaptation of the 
articular surfaces as it exists under normal circum- 
stances, existing no longer. 

From this description of the case, with the attend- 
ant circumstances, it will be readily seen that the 
symptomatology of knuckling at the fetlock is very 
simple. But aside from the deformity already 
described, there are other accompanying conditions 
to be noticed. Among these is the peculiarity in the 
appearance of the tendons, which in some instances 
can be located only at one given point of their length, 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 269 

while in others they may be traced throughout, from 
the knee or the hock, quite down to the fetlock. 
This consists in a hard swelling painful on the 
pressure, even when of long standing, and the more 
so when the tendons alone are involved than when it 
has its seat in the suspensory ligament. "While at 
rest, the leg is spared from its share of the duty of 
sustaining the weight of the body, but when put to 
work the hesitancy diminishes and the foot is at once 
placed on the ground with some degree of confidence 
and firmness. But there is still a peculiarity visible 
in the gait, which betrays an irregularity, and a liability 
to stumble, essentially characteristic of the case, and 
which is either occasioned by the soreness resulting 
from the disease which originally caused the knuck- 
ling or may be merely a mechanical effect of some 
interference or partial immobility attending the 
contact of the articular surfaces. The peculiarity is 
principally in the method of planting the foot, and 
the limited action of the knuckling joint, dependent 
upon the degree in which the deviation from the 
normal symmetry of the bony levers has become 
established. 

The animal which is knuckled at the fetlock is in a 
continual state of fatigue and suffering, and when the 
disease exists in both legs of the same biped can only 
with difficulty maintain a standing posture, except 



270 LAMENESS OF MORSES. 

for a limited period. And when lying down, it is 
only by compulsion that he can be brought to forego 
the comfort of the recumbent position, and to throw 
his weight once more upon his crippled legs. 

The prognosis of this diseased condition of the fet- 
lock, however it may have originated, is never other- 
wise than serious, as must be readily inferred from a 
consideration of the important relation borne by the 
disordered articulation towards the great general 
function of locomotion, and the danger of the impair- 
ment, or even of the total loss, of this essential 
endowment. Much discrimination consequently is 
necessary in the exercise of the judgment with which 
the probable measure of the injury is to be determ- 
ined. An important point in the examination of a 
case is the discovery of the originating cause of an 
attack, since it is generally true that the knuckling 
which is of an idiopathic type is more amenable to 
treatment than that which is due to an attack of 
chronic periostitis, navicular disease, contraction, 
or other disorders which are themselves of a 
sufficiently formidable character, and in fact too 
frequently prove wholly intractable to treatment. 

Two indications are present in the treatment of 
knuckled fetlock. The first is to prevent the 
deviation from their normal direction of the articular 
levers, when possible, and the second is to rectify the 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 271 

deformity, if practicable, when it has established 
itself. The indication is thus simply to choose 
between the preventive and the remedial. 

Prevention. — In an animal predisposed to knuckling 
by peculiarity of conformation, the first point which 
it is necessary to establish is the relation which 
may exist between the labor he is required to 
perform and his ability to perform it. This latter 
may be wholly lacking, and it may be necessary to 
discover some other mode of continuing his useful- 
ness and preserving his value, by a change in the 
nature of his work. 

If the cause which tends to produce it cannot be 
found in the condition of the tendinous structure, it 
must be sought for elsewhere. In other words, the 
symptomatic knuckling must be reached by indirect 
means, and if exostosis or a windgall is the primary 
lesion, the treatment must take that direction, in 
order to reach the knuckling. The theory is a very 
simple one — to remove the cause, helps to cure the 
disease. 

If the cause is inherent in the tendinous structure 
itself, and it has become painful from the pathologi- 
cal changes which it has undergone, the first 
indication which presents itself is as much as 
possible to relieve the tendons from the probably 
unequal strain which is imposed upon them while 



272 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

supporting and displacing the weight of the body. 
One of the best means for the fulfilment of this 
requirement is found in a methodical and scientific 
mode of fitting and adapting the shoe. There are 
large probabilities, perhaps unth ought of by many, 
of palliative benefit, in this suggestion. Bouleys 
recommendation in connection with this compre- 
hends " shortening the wall as much as possible* 
" especially at the toe, and to put on the foot a 
" shoe thicker at the heels, or better provided 
" with high heeled caulks, The shorter the toe 
" will be, the higher the heels will be raised ; 
" the greater the relief of the tendons. " The 
application of a peculiar shoe is sometimes advan- 
tageous — one having a very wide and thin web in 
front, with gradually narrowing branches, and 
increasing backwards in thickneness, the heels being 
much thicker than the toe. It is made to project 
forward, beyond the front of the toe, and this affords 
a decided relief to the tendons while the animal is 
travelling. This peculiar shoe, however, is not the 
only one capable of affording relief in a case of 
knuckling, nor does it occupy the first place in the 
estimation of veterinary practitioners in respect to 
adaptability and value among other designs of the 
kind. These methods of treating knuckling, with 
the advantages derived from their adoption are 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 273 

constantly illustrated by results in the field of 
practice. 

Curative Treatment — In essaying the treatment of 
the swelling which characterizes externally the lesion 
proper of the suspensory tendons, the first condition 
to be fulfilled is to relieve them as much as possible, 
by means of the shoeing just refered to, from the 
strain, and the pain resulting from it. When this 
has been accomplished, and the pain has been in a 
sufficient degree reduced, vesicatory applications, to 
the extent of the ability of the skin to tolerate them, 
are indicated, the patient being meanwhile turned 
loose in a box-stall, and permitted to assume any 
mode of standing he may prefer. The swelling and 
tenderness of the tendons may in the beginning be 
relieved by this treatment. But to secure a satisfac- 
tory result, the animal must be permitted a long and 
uninterrupted rest, as the only security against a 
relapse, while the only exercise that can under any 
circumstances be allowed, is that of moderate walk- 
ing — and the wearing of a high heeled shoe must be 
perseveringly continued. 

In the second degree of knuckling, or when the 
swelling of the tendons has greatly increased in 
dimensions, hardness, and duration, this revulsive 
treatment will be of no avail, and resort must be had 
to the cautery, with blistering. The firing must be 



274 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

performed in lines or in points, and there is a possi- 
bility of a successful result. But the remark already 
made must be repeated, that the prognosis is always 
one of a very serious character, and the disease is 
never otherwise than exceedingly refractory to treat- 
ment. 

The curative treatment of the symptomatic form 
of knuckling must be indicated by the nature of the 
diseases in which it originates, and will necessarily 
vary in correspondence with the primary disorder. 

When the knuckliog has reached the third degree 
of its manifestation, as characterized by the partial 
dislocation of the first phalanx, the resources of 
veterinary surgery will have been reduced to such 
mere possibilities of relief as may pertain to the 
operation of tenotomy, or the division of the tendons 
in their continuity, in order to permit the straight- 
ening of the phalanges. 

The section of the flexor tendons, performed by 
the subcutaneous process, has proved very useful, 
especially in cases in which the disease had not yet 
reached too advanced a stage. 

It is contra-indicated when the two tendons are 
united, and there can be no possibility that the 
stumps of the divided tendons will permit the foot to 
rest on the ground on its plantar surface. Nor will 
an operation be of any avail in cases which have 



LAMENESS OP &6&SM 275 

originated in exostosis or other chronic disease of 
the foot. 

The space which remains between the divided ends 
of the tendons after the section soon becomes filled 
by a thick, yellowish, homogeneous substance, which 
soon becoming organized, and constituting a tendi- 
nous callus, furnishes in that form a new means of 
elongation to the shortened tendon, and restores it 
again to its normal proportions. A week may suffice 
for the formation of the callus, but its organization 
will require twice that period, and only after a con- 
solidating and perfectiEg process for which months 
will be necessary, can the animal be considered fit for 
the resumption of his accustomed labor. Nor should 
he for a still longer period of time be subjected to an 
equal amount of labor or fatigue with a robust and 
uninjured animal, relapses are easy and frequent. 

In the operation of plantar tenotomy by the 
subcutaneous method, two bistouries, otherwise 
designated as tenotomes, specially adopted to the 
case, are required, one having a narrow blade and a 
sharp point, the other being blunt at the end, will a 
curved blade, and sharpened on its concave edge. 
The safest position for the animal during the per- 
formance of the operation is undoubtedly the 
decubital, the leg being placed in forced extension by 
ropes secured above the knee and below the fetlock, 



276 LAMENESS OF HOMES. 

and pulled in opposite directions . Bearing accurately 
in mind the disposition and dimensions of the 
synovial sacs, which are found occupying the upper 
and lower thirds of the region of the cannon, the 
point will be indicated where the puncture — with 
the straight tenotome — can be safely made, which is 
the middle of the region. The importance of avoid- 
ing the infliction of accidental injury upon the nerves 
or blood vessels which run in close proximity with 
the course of the tendon, is a point which must not 
be overlooked. But this, according to Gourdon, 
may be easily avoided by the simple expedient of 
introducing the instrument upon the same side 
with the nerves and vessels, instead of towards 
them. Hence, the indication to operate on the 
inside for the anterior, and on the outside for 
the posterior legs. The line of separation of the 
tendons being made out, (provided they are not 
found closely united by plastic exudation) the straight 
tenotome is introduced perpendicularly between 
them until its point is felt on the opposite side, the 
puncture of the skin at that point being carefully 
avoided. The blade of the curved tenotome is then 
introduced through the opening and the tract thus 
made, and the straight instrument is withdrawn. 
Once in place, if it is the division of the perforans 
which is indicated the sharp edge is turned forward 



LAMENESS OF SOUSES. 277 

against it, and in its tense and rigid condition a 
slight sawing movement easily effects its separation. 
On the other hand, if it is the perforatus which is to 
be divided, the edges of the tenotome must be turned 
backward, with a similar manipulation, the other 
details being the same. The same steps are to be 
observed when a double tenotomy is to be performed. 
Watchfulness and caution must also be exercised, 
least at the moment of severing the nervous 
structures, the pain should excite a struggle so 
sudden and violent as to cause the instrument to 
slip backward and divide the skin through and 
through, giving then rise to a severe complication 
of the operation. 

The subsequent care of the patient involves only the 
simple and ordinary attentions. The wound readily 
heals, and the complications which are likely to 
follow, such as hemorrhages, or the division of nerves 
aTe not of an alarming kind. Those which might 
result from excessive cutaneous division, or injury 
of the synovial sacs, however, would be of a much 
more serious character. A condition of excessive 
extension of the fetlock is possible, but in many 
instances becomes amenable to treatment, by proper 
shoeing and otner appliances. The most serious 
complication, is a recurrence of the original trouble, 
by a return of the knuckling, in consequence of the 



278 LAMENESS OF WORSES. 

retraction of the newly formed cicatricial tissue. 
This is a condition which can, generally, only be 
remedied by a second resort to tenotomy, with a 
diminished prospect of satisfactory results in the 
perspective, unless some undiscovered means should 
become known by which the sustaining and recuper- 
ative resources of the patient could he so augmented 
as to enable him to bear a second debilitating and 
exhaustive ordeal better than the first. 



CHAPTER VI. 
DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 

A discussion which purports to comprehend the 
subject of lameness in the horse — practically of 
course, a matter of inquiry into its causes and 
remedies — but which fails to include a suitable 
reference to the kindred subject of the diseases of 
the foot of the same animal, must be judged as being 
neither adequate or complete, if not indeed, effect- 
ually a solecism, since a portion only of the cases of 
mctor disability which demand attention from the 
veterinarian are in fact attributable to accidental or 
traumatic causes. 

If any plea might avail, and we were disposed to 
offer one, for so important an exclusion, it would be 
sought by the present writer in the form of a 
reference to the translation heretofore made and 
published by him, from the excellent Dictionary of 
Zundel, of the diseases of that portion of the motor 
apparatus — and to which we beg leave, just at this 
point, to refer the reader. If our work is to prove 
unsatisfactory and incomplete either in our own view 



280 LAM2NESS OF HOttSM. 

or that of our readers, it shall not be because any 
part of its rightful contents have been relegated to 
another book. Accordingly, the present chapter will be 
appropriated to a survey, sufficiently ample, of the 
subjects included in the phrase which forms its title. 

"We have besides, become impressed with the 
interest attached to that point of the case which 
suggest its examination from the standpoint of 
comparative anatomy and pathology, and have been 
specially drawn to regard the observation of the 
similarities and correspondences of equine and human 
disease as in some degree a study of parallell and 
analogous phenomena. 

We feel quite sure that a comparative study of 
diseases of animals in association with similar lesions 
in the human finger would be of interest and value to 
veterinarians, and we would therefore call the attention 
of the reader to the consideration of the subject of 

PARONYCHIA. 

as modified by its appearance in animal and man 
respectively; and herein we confess to have been 
partly moved and inspired by the suggestions that 
we received from the writings of Dr. C. Aubrion. 

The diseases of the foot of the horse have received 
a large share of attention from veterinary authors, 
among whose writings may be found many disserta- 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES 281 

tions of great value and interest. They have all found 
their raison d'etre in the practical physiological 
importance of the pedal regions, in the varying forms 
of the lesions met with and the danger of permanent 
disability to which the diseased animal is always 
subjected by the pathological changes which might 
remain in the surrounding structures as well as in 
the foot itself 

Each of the various diseases of the foot proper 
have become the subject of separate and special 
attention by various authors in turn, and to this 
circumstance may be attributed the more or less 
scientific terms by which they are now familiarly 
known. But might not a change in this respect 
become an improvement, and would not a better 
system of definitions and a clearer classification result 
from a mode of designation which would refer to 
existing correspondences between the forms of disease 
as they mutually exist in men and the lower animals- 
That this would be the case, and that it would make 
far more simple and intelligible, and therefore more 
practically useful, the terminology of the class of 
diseases in question, by thus conforming it to that of 
the human finger, and considering the whole under 
the general and comprehensive title which we have 
proposed, we cannot doubt. 

To realize more satisfactorily the propriety of this 



M LAMENESS OP B6%B$S. 

suggestion we must consider it from the standpoint 
comparative — pathological — anatomy, and observe 
well the closeness of the parallel between the related 
ailments of man and the soliped. 

Viewed anatomically, but little difference appears 
in the essential structure of the digital regions of 
these mammalia. Three short bones similar in 
structure and in general aspect, are found in each, 
the only important differences in their osteology 
consisting principally,^^, in the fact that in solipeds 
there is found posterior to the articulation of the . 
second and third phalanges, a small spongio — bony 
structure, of great physiological value, the small 
navicular bone ; and second, in addition to the lateral 
wings of the third phalanx, of an apparatus of an 
elastic nature, known as the lateral cartilage of the 
foot, which forms a kind of belt to the region to which 
they belong, and are a part of another structure, (the 
plantar cushion) which we find less developed at the 
same point in man, consisting of the pulp of the finger. 

The articulations formed by there bones in all 
species are of the same kind. They are diarthrodial 
and allow a similar motion, more or less limited, of 
flexion and extension. Besides the means of union 
provided for these joints, we also find that the active 
organs of locomotion which aid their movements are 
similar in man and the horse, and we also find in both 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 283 

that ilie place of the extensors of the phalanges is 
the anterior face of the bone, while the flexors are 
inserted on the posterior or palmar surface The 
anatomical arrangement, thus corresponding internal- 
ly in both man and the soliped, is also similar in the 
aspect presented by a view of the superficial regions. 
Surrounding the bones and the joints which they 
form, and the muscles or tendons by which they move 
the anatomist also encounters not only the cellular 
tissue and the tendinous sheathing, but the elastic 
apparatus, composed of the plantar cushion and 
lateral cartilages in the horse's foot, represented by 
the ( cellulo-adipose ) digital pulp of the human 
finger — the whole being enveloped in a skin having 
a highly vascular dermis, excessively sensitive in man 
and possibly still more so in animals, where the 
podophyllous and the velvety tissue take its place — 
the principal difference being that while the 
epidermic secretion of the nail is incomplete in man, 
it surrounds the entire lower part of the digital region 
in the soliped, and constitutes the hard, protective 
horny box which envelopes aDcl contains the whole. 
It would be remarkable, indeed, if so complete an 
analogy of anatomical structure could exist without 
also involving a similarity of tendency to morbid 
action and its resulting lesions. Yet, although the 
resemblance may not be instantly obvious between 



284 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

the felon which tortures the man, and the founder, 
the corn, the quittor, or the puntured wound of the 
foot which torments the horse, it will require but 
little reflection to establish the conviction that if 
there is any real difference discoverable between 
these forms of diseased processes, it is exceedingly 
slight, and of no great practical inportance. 

paronychia, or whitlow, is an inflammation of the 
digital structure in man, and is divisible, according 
to its development and degree of manifestation, into 
four species, reference being had to the tissues 
specially involved in each case. And what then is 
the nature of this inflammation in the soliped ? What 
is laminitis or founder, but a congestion and inflam- 
mation of the dermis, with its various changes and 
stages ? And what is a corn resulting from a bruise 
and complicated with suppuration, and involving the 
surrounding region with a greater or less extent of 
serious lesion ? What is quittor — what is a complicated 
punctured wound of the foot, with diseased cartilage 
— and what of necrosis of the plantar cushion ; the 
slonghing of tendons ; synovitis ; arthritis, and the 
rest ? 

A general arrangement of the diseases of the human 
finger suggests their classification into four varieties 
and yields, first, paronychia ungualis, or superficial 
whitlow ; second, p, cellulosa, or phlegmonous ; third, p t 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 285 

tendinosa ; fourth, p, osseosa. These forms are all 
found in the horse, and in addition, a fifth, which 
may be denominated the cartilaginous. 

We shall now subject the whole to a review from 
the point of comparative pathology, with what result 
will be readily apparent. 

P. Ungualis, the first, is also probably the sim- 
plest form of the disease. It is characterized by a 
superficial inflammation of the dermis, with the pos- 
sible accompaniment of the suppurative process and 
purulent accumulation. Its seat is usually the root 
of the nail and it is attended with violent pain, and 
followed upon recovery by a greater or less degree of 
deformity of the nail itself. 

If now it be duly considered that in horses the 
keratogenous apparatus is not limited to a coronary 
band or an external matrice, but has added to it the 
podophyllous and velvety tissues; and if it be 
remembered that a similar congestion and inflam- 
mation occur in both human and equine patients, 
how can we avoid the conclusion which identifies 
the manifestations which we observe in laminitis, 
such as the difficulty of locomotion, the lancinating 
pain, and even the disturbance of the general organism 
with that which may be observed in the human 
patient while suffering from the visitation of a con- 
firmed felon ? 



286 LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 

And why may not that common cause of foot lame- 
ness known as the corn, be also appropriately assigned 
to a place with the paronychia ungualis ? Though 
while looked upon as merely a blow, or a simple 
bruise, or only a contusion, such a hurt may excite 
no alarm and awake no interest, it has only to reach 
the suppurative stage and receive the name of a 
subungeal whitloiv to become a new witness and furnish 
another testimony of the existence and the effect 
of the analogy we are referring to. The only 
noticeable difference being that which is caused by 
the special arrangement and design which results 
in the construction of the complete nail in the 
soliped. 

As a second specification, we may refer to the 
comparative view of the subcutaneous or cellulous 
paronychia in man, with its characteristic tendency 
to suppuration of the subcutaneous cellular tissue, 
with liability to mortification and sloughing of 
tissues in various degrees. The severe injuries 
known as caulking; the furuncle of the frog ; the deep 
penetrating wounds arising from punctures from 
pricks, and nails, and otherwise, as well as the com- 
plicated suppurative corn; all will natuarlly fall 
into the category of affections the characteristic 
accompaniments of which are so frequently seen 
in the suppuration, mortification and sloughing of 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 287 

portions of the skin, in the keratogenous structure 
and at the elastic pad of the equine foot. 

Our third reference is to the tendinous paronychia 
of man, when the morbid process has involved the 
tendons, if, in fact, it has not begun as a primary 
inflammation of the sheets of these organs. The 
severe wounds produced by caulking, which we 
encounter on. the front of the foot, just above the 
coronary band, when both the skin and the tendon of 
the extensor pedis will sometimes slough away ; and 
again the deep punctured wound of the middle 
zone of the plantar surface of the foot of the 
soliped, injuring the broad aponeurosis of the deep 
flexor of the phalanges, with the intensity of the 
suffering attendant upon the diseased process, and 
the length of time required for their recovery; all 
these features concur in establishing the strength of 
the resemblance which proves the mutual relation- 
ship of the morbid members of this third division- 

Our fourth comparative review brings us to the 
consideration of the osseous form of paronychia p. 
osseosa in which it is characterized by an acute inflam- 
mation of the periosteum which so often terminates 
in necrosis of the third phalanx. "We cannot in any 
case fail to find between this very severe form of lesion 
and a similar condition in the horse in the various 
traumatic injuries affecting his feet, and which are 



28$ LAMENESS OF EOitSfiS. 

accompanied with necrosis and caries of the os pedis, 
a correspondence too obvious to permit it to be 
over-looked. 

The fifth item, or the p, cartilaginosa, may be 
considered as representing our common cartilaginous 
quittor, but can hardly claim to have a perfect 
analogue in man. Yet we may still recognize its 
radical connection with the form of previously con- 
sidered types, if we do but bear in mind the peculiar- 
ities of its anatomical site and structure, and of the 
manifestations to which it gives rise while a diseased 
condition prevails. 

The general similarity of pathological character in 
diseases which are common both to man and to 
solipeds is traceable more in their general manifest- 
ations than perhaps in some of the extreme niceties 
of pathognomonic details. But who amongst observ- 
ing veterinarians, who have critically studied the 
varieties of lameness, with its distinctive phases of 
pain, from the most acute lancinating paroxysms to 
the most persistent and besieging aches, as expressed 
by the animal by change of posture and other 
instinctive movements aiming at relief, besides the 
general disturbance of the organism throughout 
including even tremblings, sweatings, groaning and 
tears who, it may be repeated can fail to recognize 
similar conditions in human sufferers for cognate ail- 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 280 

merits, with their loss of sleep and of appetite, and 
intelligent statement of their own sensations? 

But we need not pause at this point while in look- 
ing for the correspondences we are noting. When 
we consider the matters of diagnosis, of indication, 
and of treatment, the resort to antiphlogistic appli- 
ances, and to stimulating embrocations ; the topical 
use of heat, of poultices and of vesicants ; with the 
use of the lancet and bistoury for the liberation of 
purulent and other collections, and of the sharp 
instrument for the removal of mortified structures ; 
the application of the tenotome ; the amputation of 
parts ; the injection of mild caustics into capsular 
cavities — in a word, when we carry out the parallel 
in diagnosis, in lesion, and in result, so easily 
traceable between the two classes of patients, we 
are compelled to allow the fact of the correspon- 
dences between the human and the equine races, in 
the analogous ailments common to both. 

Assuming this to be as we have tried to prove and 
illustrated it, the question presents itself whether a 
change in the nomenclature of some of the diseases 
common both to horse and his rider, is not desirable, 
and if the following new system of terminology 
is not quite worthy of acceptance and adoption by 
veterinarians. 



290 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

PARONYCHIA. 
CLASS I. — P.UNGUALIS. 

1. Superficial Caulking. — 2. Laminitis. — 3. Simple 
Corn. — 4. Suppurative Corn. 

CLASS II. — P. CELLULOSA. 

1. Severe Caulking, with slough of the skin and 
abscess at the coronary band. — 2. Superficial punc- 
tured wound of the foot. — 3. Punctured wounds by- 
nails etc. — 4. Abscess of the frog. 

CLASS III. — P. TENDINOSA. 

1. Severe Caulking, with necrosis of tendons. — 2, 
Furuncle of the frog, with slough of plantar cushion. 
' — 3. Punctured wound of the foot down to the 
plantar aponeurosis. 

CLASS IV. — P. CARTILAGINOSA. 

Cartilaginous Quittor. 

CLASS V. — P. OSSEOSA. 

1, Deep punctured wound of the foot, to the 
navicular bone. — 2, Pricks by nail to the os pedis. 
— 3, Severe caulking, with periostitis, ostitis and 
arthritis, terminating with the sequelae of necrosis, 
exostosis or anchylosis. 



APPENDIX. 



In order to bring our work to a symmetrical ending 
and at the same time to give due prominence among 
the causes of lameness in the horse to two important 
and interesting subjects, we have thought proper to 
assign a distinct place under a separate head to the 
consideration of sprains of the loins and embolisms, in 
connection with the general subject upon which we 
have been engaged. 

SPKAINS OF THE LOINS. 

This term is applied to several diseases, varying 
in their nature and differing in their forms of lesion, 
but alike liable to give rise to the general disturb- 
ance of the functions of locomotion which, under its 
various subdivisions, we have been considering. 
Among these are often included sprains, due to 
muscular injuries; certain nervous affections : attacks 
of arthritis, and diseases of the spinal cord. 

Symptoms. — Sprain of the loins, or as it is some- 
times denominated, lumbago, is accompanied by loss 
of rigidity in the spinal column, from the withers to 



292 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

the croup, and forms a condition which is always 
destructive of the harmony of movement which nor- 
mally subsists between the anterior and posterior 
extremities. In consequence of this while in the 
standing posture, the normal habit is changed, 
especially in the hind legs, which are held farther 
apart than is natural ; and the vertebral column is 
more or less arched, with perhaps a lateral cur- 
vature. Movement is difficult and painful. The 
animal lies down with difficulty and groans in the 
act, and in rising, only succeeds in the endeavor after 
repeated attempts, still betraying the suffering he 
experiences as all his movements require repeated 
efforts for their accomplishment, The abnormal 
flexibility of the spinal column is demonstrated not 
only by the fact of its actual excessive flexion ; as 
shown in various motions of the body and extremities; 
but it may be detected also as he is standing motion- 
less, in his regular attitude, by mechanically forcing 
the hind quarters into lateral oscillation by pushing 
him sidewise to which he yields without any violent 
effort to produce them, and apparently without 
suffering pain. 

It is however when in motion that the weakness 
of the vertebral column becomes most conspicuously 
noticeable. Walking is performed with a sideling, 
balancing action of the extremities which is in fact a 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 293 

stagger, and when the weight falls on the leg down 
squarely it is subjected to a sort of swing which 
causes the point of the hock to turn outward and the 
toe of the foot inward, the hinder feet being but 
slightly lifted and the flexion of the hock very limited. 
These irregularities of the hinder parts are yet more 
marked in the action of trotting, when the control of 
the legs seems - to be nearly lost, and the patient 
interferes to such an extent as to expose him con- 
stantly to the danger of tripping himself, and he does 
in fact, at times drop suddenly on his hind quarters, 
though soon with an effort, recovering himself. 

To be suddenly halted while in rapid motion, as 
in trotting, causes acute pain and prompts him to a 
quick and violent flexion of the hocks, and exposes 
him to the danger of a fall. In advanced cases the 
backing power is almost wholly gone, and he con- 
sequently loses his ability to resist the weight of 
burdens pressing from behind, while descending a 
declivity. This disability increases with the advance 
of the disease. In attempting the act of backing, 
it is accomplished, if at all not with a direct rearward 
motion, but in an oblique direction, and the deliber- 
ate and steady action of health and vigor is exchanged 
for a feeble, violent, sudden and jerky impulse. In 
turning about, though the fore legs may act freely 
enough, the hinder continue motionless, serving only 



294 LAMENESS OE HORSES. 

as a pivotal support, and at length acting suddenly 
and instinctively, from the necessity of avoiding a 
fall; the whole movement being involuntary and 
automatic. 

In turning in a circle, (as in turning on his own 
axis) especially if it be one of small diameter the 
vertebral column becomes curved, both vertically 
and laterally, and the horse moves as if flexed later- 
ally upon himself, and if during the experiment the 
speed of the motion is accelerated there will be im- 
minent danger of a fall, from the inability of the 
hinder leg which forms the pivot on which the body 
revolves, ( as in the former case ) to rotate with suf- 
ficient rapidity to maintain the general equilibrium. 

A burden placed directly on the back, of course 
increases the difficulty of walking, and in some 
instances renders it impossible ; it is, indeed, very 
easy for a horse with sprained loins to fall under the 
mere weight of his rider. 

Sometimes local tumefaction, with pain, accom- 
panies the sprain. There is then a special sensibility 
of the region under the mere pressure of the hand 
though there seems to be no abnormal appearance, 
owing probably to the chronic character and the 
deep seated situation of the disease. 

Pathological Anatomy. — The lesions which a post- 
mortem examination reveals in animals which have 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 295 

during life exhibited the symptoms which we have 
described are as might be expected of an essentially 
serious character, and affect various portions of the 
vital apparatus. Bouley speaks of their presence 
in the vertebral column; in its muscular structure; 
in the posterior aorta; in the coxo- femoral joint, and 
in the femoral nerves. But again the symptoms of 
that disease have also been observed in chronic 
affections of the spinal cord; in diseases of the 
kidneys ; and connected with the existence of large 
neoplasms in the sub-lumbar region. Yet there are 
cases where no really characteristic lesion can be 
found, and the disease is certainly of a rheumatic 
nature ; a true lumbago, in fact, or rheumatism of the 
loins. Its most common seat is the vertebral column, 
where it may be found both in the intervertebral 
articulations and the vertebrae themselves. In the 
first situation it may be found in various degrees of 
manifestations. In one case the intervertebrate 
menisci will become distended, or possibly lacerated 
in their continuity ; in another the fibro-cartilages of 
the articular surfaces will have undergone a process 
of resorption, in a portion of their extent, and 
possibly to such a degree as to involve the bony 
structure itself in the disease, under which circum- 
stances, a form of arthritis may result ; and even 
anchylosis may supervene as a final termination. 



296 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

Again, a peripherical periostitis may have appeared 
as the vertebral articulation had become affected, in 
the form of an irregular bony deposite — and it is not 
an uncommon circumstance to meet this variety of 
anchylosis, involving at once several of the vertebra?. 
Specimens are numerous in which not only the 
lumbar, but the dorsal vertebrae are united in a long 
and solid rod, from which all signs of intervertebral 
articular ligaments have vanished. 

Injuries of the muscles may exist, associated 
with those of the bones, as well as independently. 
Thickening of the ilio-spinalis, lesions of the psoas 
from simple degeneration, and purulent collections- 
are also to be included in this category. 

The lesions met with in the posterior aorta will be 
considered in another place, when our attention will 
be directed to embolisms of that artery and its 
branches. 

In respect to lesions of the coxo-femoral articula- 
tion, Eigot reports a case in which he found "a recent 
" rupture of two internal ligaments of that joint, 
" without displacement of the articular surfaces or 
" laceration or distention of the synovial or of the 
capsular ligament". 

Causes. — Sprains of the back will naturally most 
frequently occur among animals which are compelled 
to bear heavy burdens, or from any cause undergo 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 297 

severe strains in that region of the body. Heavy 
cavalry and draught horses are consequently the 
most frequent sufferers from this lesion. Under 
normal circumstances, in consequence of the arched 
form of the vertebral column, the weight which it is 
required to sustain becomes evenly distributed among 
the bones composing it. But this equality of pressure 
cannot always be assumed. A weight in excess of 
the strength of the animal will at times overcome the 
curvature of the spinal arch, and the inter-articular 
ligaments become stretched, and sometimes lacerated 
and ruptured. Heavy work, over rough and irregular 
roads, and the wrenching motion which accompanies 
the effort to first put an excessive burden in motion 
are mostly responsible for the existence of the injury. 
Traveling upon slippery ground, with shoes worn 
smooth, should also be placed among the causes 
which may be enumerated. And again, an unusual 
length of body, with breadth across the loins, may be 
recognized as probably predisposing causes. It has 
been cited also as having a connection with the act of 
casting for surgical treatment, either at the moment 
of throwing the animal, or as resulting from his 
struggles while under the surgeon's knife. But 
though we must usually look for traumatic injuries 
as mainly implicated, we must by no means ignore 
the effects of pain inherent in the muscular system, 



298 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

and the dorso lumbar region particularly, as 
pertaining to the etiology of lumbago. Nor can 
exposure to cold, a sudden arrest of perspiration 
or the influence of the rheumatic diathesis be 
omitted from the list of possible originating causes. 

Diagnosis and Prognosis. — The prognosis of the 
disease will of necessity be modified by the patho- 
logical lesion which accompanies the morbid process. 
Thus if it be lumbago, it may offer a more favorable 
promise than would be afforded by a simple muscular 
sprain, which will also be of a less serious character, 
considered in reference to its disabling effect upon 
tho value of the animal as a laborer, than an anchy- 
losis, which in the same relation, is less unfavorable 
than when the lesion is of such a nature as to involve 
the integrity of the circulating apparatus. The im- 
portance of great thoroughness, then, in searching for 
the correct solution of the various phenomena which 
properly constitute the case is obvious, though it is 
to be feared that many cases of professed investigation 
have been performed with but scant scrutiny, and 
correspondingly unsatisfactory results. 

The symptoms described are to be recognized as 
the manifestations of a simple sprain, simple both in 
its nature and its pathology. But if this is associat- 
ed with a more serious lesion, such as an extensive 
injury cf the articulations and of their structures, 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 2D9 

their significance will become more marked, and a 
correspondingly closer inspection of all the details 
should follow. We may thus be led to a better com- 
prehension of the condition of the vertebral column, 
which will be found to have become more sensitive 
to pressure and with the lateral flexion more marked, 
as shown by the oscillating and staggering motion of 
the animal, as these become confirmed and aggravated. 

In sprains confined to the muscular structures 
alone, the symptoms are less marked, the loins are 
sensitive and flexible, and there is a greater degree 
of general rigidity. 

When the lesions are in the coxo-femoral joint, 
there is rigidity at the back and excessive oscillation 
of the hind legs in the act of walking. 

The appearances due to embolism will be consider- 
ed as we advance further in our study of the subject. 

According to Bouley. when the irregularity of the 
posterior action occurs as the result of lesions of the 
femoral nerves, serious in degree, though not 
sufficiently severe to terminate in paralysis, a peculiar 
manifestation presents itself during the act of walking 
due to the excessive flexion or humping of the back, 
and suggestive of the idea of a shortening of the hind 
quarter, causing the contour of the spine to resemble 
that of hyena. 

A case of genuine lumbago will be recognized by 



300 LAMENESS OF MORSES. 

the gradual subsidence of the symptoms, and their: 
disappearance under judicious treatment. 

The serious general affections in which the symp- 
toms under consideration originate, are too evidently 
associated with their distinguishing signs and the 
changes, and functional disorders of the implicated 
regions, as well as the economy at large, to be easily 
mistaken for the results of a simple sprain. 

Treatment. — Though it is quite evident, from the 
considerations which have occupied our attention, 
that the radical recovery of patients laboring under 
the diseased conditions which we have been examin- 
ing is not a matter of very common occurrence, or 
very easily accomplished by the appliances of human 
skill, yet there will always be certain indications of 
treatment within reach of the experienced and 
accomplished practitioner, which cannot justifiably 
be omitted, or depreciated, especially in the presence 
of an indeterminate or doubtful diagnosis. 

The prime, and in every case indispensable in- 
dication is rest, as perfect and undisturbed as possible 
The next, and closely auxiliary, is the abatement of 
pain. For this purpose, when the season renders 
them proper and allowable, the cold douche or bath 
may be resorted to. Irritating frictions and charges, 
or even repeated blisters are beneficial, as by the 
rigidity which they impart to the affected region, 



LAMENESS OF HOUSES. 301 

especially if the animal is kept in a condition of quiet 
by being prevented from lying down, or is secured 
in slings. The actual cautery in lines is often re- 
commended in old cases, as a final resort, but must 
be applied while the animal is on his feet, since the 
effect of his resistance of the violence necessary to 
cast him could not be otherwise than injurious, to a 
dangerous degree, by aggravating his lameness. 

A resort to electricity in attacks evidently due to 
a rheumatic diathesis is a plan of treatment which 
is not without its advocates and endorsers. 

In cases due to disease of the blood vessels, there 
seem to be no therapentic resources upon which to 
draw with any fair prospect of obtaining means of 
relief. 

EMBOLISMS. 

Internal arteritis, or the diseased condition of the 
membrane which coats the inner surface of the blood 
vessels, is frequently complicated by the presence of 
clots of blood in the vascular cavity, which have 
been formed in the capillaries, (or aneuvrisms when 
present) or in a vein, or even the heart, and are borne 
along by the circulating current until they lodge in an 
artery and obstruct or close its channels. The effect 
of such a lodgement of these migratory masse3, or 
embolisms, is a disturbance of function more or less 



302 LAMENESS OE HORSES. 

serious, varying in its features according to the artery 
in which it has been developed. But the symptoms 
are in all cases recognized by the mortifications 
which are observed in the myotility, the sensibility, 
the circulation, and the calorification of the region 
supplied by the artery , the serious character of the 
changes of myotility being proportioned to the degree 
of obstruction securing in the duplicated vessel. If 
the arterial cavity has become wholly occluded, the 
muscular force is so nearly destroyed that the inter- 
ference becomes practically equivalent to paralysis 
of the parts. In a case of partial or imperfect obli- 
teration, there may, during rest, be no appearance of 
change in the manner in which the muscular function 
is performed, but the stimulus of exercise is no sooner 
felt upon the circulation than the effect becomes 
evident in an access of the lameness, with its special 
characteristics, which follows. The interference 
with the action of the muscles is very marked, and the 
affected leg almost wholly loses its power, and drags 
on the ground, the impossibility of bearing weight on 
it continuing until under the influence of rest the 
circulation becomes quieted, and the comparatively 
normal functions of the muscular apparatus return. 

Attending the appearance of these muscular dis- 
turbances there are evident signs of severe suffering 
on the part of the patient. His entire countenance 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 803 

betrays the fact. There is a contraction of the face • 
dilatation of the nostrils; acceleration of the respi- 
ration ; abundant perspiration, with unsteadiness of 
posture and violent movements both while on his feet 
and when lying down. All the signs of intense pain 
are present. These appearances manifest themselves 
suddenly, and become more and more striking as the 
animal is kept in motion, to subside sooner or later 
and more or less gradually, perhaps to cease entirely, 
under the influence of rest and quiet. 

With the obliteration of the large arteries of a 
region there is either a retardation or cessation of 
the arterial circulation beyond the point of oblitera- 
tion, but the condition is different in front of it 
where the vessels are evidently in an enlarged form, 
in consequence of the reversed and reactive pressure 
of the retarded current, and the pulsation becomes 
correspondingly fuller and stronger at that point. 

There is also some change in the temperature of 
the parts over which the obliterated vessel had been 
distributed. In a normal and healthy condition the 
temperature of the whole body is increased under 
the influence of exercise and an acceleration of the 
circulation, But the effect A a diseased artery upon 
the region which it is its province to nourish is to 
leave it cold and dry, and destitute of perceptible 
pulsations. 



304 LAMENMS8 OF HOMES. 

Such, concisely, is the general symptomatology of 
internal arteritis, and we are next to consider the 
subject in its special features, as it more immediate- 
ly relates to the subject of this volume and bears 
upon the question of lameness. 

EMBOLISM OF THE POSTERIOR AORTA. 

This disease is a common one among those which 
afflict horse flesh. Its seat is in the lumbar region, 
and especially near and on a level with the aortic 
quadrifurcation. The extent and degree of the 
obstruction furnishes the measure of the intensity of 
the symptoms, which vary much in different cases. 

The first degree is characterised by an irregularity 
of motion in the hind quarter, caused by rigidity in 
the extremities. The muscles act with diminished 
power and strength, and the result is a staggering 
gait, hesitancy in the action forward, and irregular- 
ity in the mode of resting. In other words, there is 
a loss of harmony and synchronism between the ex- 
tremities in their respective action. The symptoms 
are the same that we have observed after violent 
distension ofnthe vertebral column ; in lacerations of 
the ligaments of the back ; in injuries of the dorso 
lumbar muscles — in brief, such as we have described 
in the preceding paragraph as pertaining to sprains 
of the loins, But the differential diagnosis of the 



LAMENESS OE HORSES. 305 

two cases is easily determined by a reference to the 
symptoms which characterise that of embolism, to 
wit. 

First, the aggravation of the symptoms under the 
stimulus of exercise, an effect which can be carried 
far enough to render the animal liable at any moment 
to fall as if paralized. 

Second, the diminution of the temperature of the 
hind legs and the dryness of the skin covering them 
while every other portion of the body is covered with 
prespiration. 

Third, the absence of pulsation, as detected by 
rectal examination. 

In a more advanced stage of arteritis of the aorta, 
or when the obstructing clots have extended into the 
muscular branches of that vessel, the irregularities of 
locomotion become still more noticeable, and the 
symptoms of pseudo-paralysis are sooner induced 
under the influence of exercise. Another symptom 
appears in the relative development of the lameness 
in different legs. As there is not usually the same 
degree of obstruction on both sides, one leg will be 
more affected than its oppsite, and the method of 
halting becomes more significant from that circum- 
stance, until the induced motion ends in causing 
complete inertia of the limb. The association of 
these phenomena with a reduction of the temperature 



306 LAMENESS OF llORS&S. 

and the absence of arterial pulsation in the parts 
cannot fail to establish and verify the diagnostic 
identity of the case, as distinguished from any other. 
The occlusion and its extent are variable in different 
cases. It may involve the aorta at its posterior ex- 
tremity, or it may extend to one or several of the 
branches which form its quadrifur cation, and numer- 
ous cases of partial or complete obliteration of the 
internal and external iliacs and their divisions are 
recorded in veterinary papers. 

EMBOLISMS OF THE ARTERIES OF THE EXTREMITIES. 

The arteries of the posterior are more frequently 
subject to these affections than those of the anterior 
extremities, and it is not an unusual occurrence to 
encounter lesions of this kind in the femoral artery 
and its subdivisions which have extended to the 
popliteal, and even below it. Many reports of these 
cases have appeared in the various veterinary 
journals, of which we have ourselves contributed a 
number to the pages of the American Veterinary 
Review, some in which the lesions have extended in 
the femoral artery and its subdivisions, way down to 
below the popliteal. We are indebted to Bouley, Jr. 
for the first mention of the subject, in 1885, and since 
then many other reports have appeared, all of which 
present the same history and record the same 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 307 

manifestations. These may be thus summed : lame- 
ness, increasing in its degree and intermittent in its 
character ; aggravated by labor or exercise ; diminish- 
ing or disappearing with more or less facility with 
rest and inactivity ; causing during its access, excru- 
ciating pain, mostly of a lancinating character; 
inability to bear weight on the affected leg, amount- 
ing even, when the occlusion is perfect and extensive, 
to the inability of the animal to continue on his 
feet, and subjecting him to sudden falls ; absence 
of arterial pulsation; diminished heat of the affected 
extremity ; dryness of the skin below the seat of the 
lesion, and in general, symptoms of severe constitu- 
tional disturbance. 

As with the embolism itself, the disease in which 
it originates, the internal arteritis, is less common 
in the anterior than in the posterior regions, and a 
majority of cases have their seat in the hinder limbs. 
The first recorded case was reported in 1851 by 
Henry Bouley, who gives its history substantially as 
follows : 

The animal was not at first lame in walking, but 
after a few minutes began to favor the near fore leg, 
and the continuance of the exercise was accompanied 
by an increasing lameness, to a point when bearing 
the weight of the body on the diseased limb became 
impossible, and the extremity was dragged on the 



308 LAMENESS OF HORSES. 

ground in a semi-flexed position, as if the extensor 
muscles of the fore arm had become paralyzed. If 
attempts were made to compel him to move, they 
were resisted, and he would throw himself on the 
ground rather than attempt a single step. "When at 
rest his countenance betrayed signs of the severest 
suffering, shown by the contraction of the features 
and the acceleration of the respiration. There were 
weakness and instability of the extremities, and 
sometimes, while in violent motion he exhibited signs 
of suffering such as accompany the presence of 
violent abdominal pain. The surface of the body 
was covered with perspiration, with the exception of 
tbe diseased leg, which was from the fore arm down- 
ward, dry and cold. These symptoms would con- 
tinue for a period of from twenty minutes to half an 
hour, when every thing would return to its normal 
condition — but only to undergo a repetiton of the 
disturbance if again subjected to exercise as before. 
The post-mortem examination revealed a large an- 
eurism at the origin of the left brachial trunk and its 
axillary portion, with embolisms in the following 
arteries — the sus and sub-scapular, the humeral, 
pre humeral, external and internal collateral of the 
elbow, and anterior and posterior radial. 

The prognosis of these affections can seldom if 
ever be a favorable one. The fact that they totally 



LAMENESS OF HORSES. 309 

unfit the animal for labor of all description sufficiently 
determines the case and subjects the suffering patient 
to the final humane and fatal verdict, equally irre- 
pealable and unimpeachable. 

The obvious fact is that embolisms are generally 
incurable : a clot formed in a blood vessel can seldom 
be removed from the circulation. It is true that 
with time an anastomatic circulation may be estab- 
lished, and the collateral channels may by an 
increased development in the capacity of the vessels 
facilitate the flow of the blood to the parts which 
have been deprived of the sustenance which under 
normal circumstances would be theirs. 

But in this there is only theory and hypothesis, 
which can never come into practical realization, 
except perhaps in vessels of diminutive calibre and 
insignificant importance, and which do not find a 
place among the organs or functions whose aberra- 
tions are to be studied among the accompaniments 
or causes of lameness. 

Long rest, the free use of alkaline alteratives, 
stimulating frictions, hydrotherapy, electricity, and 
even vesicating applications : all these are recom- 
mended, but with what wisdom and practical benefit, 
must be left for future determination. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



Pages. 



Descriptive definition. — Synonimy — Importance — 
Varieties of lameness — Etiology — Symptoma- 
tology and Diagnosis— Designation of the diseased 
limb — Determination of the seat of the disease 
— The nature of the lameness — Treatment 1 — 31 

CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS RELATING TO THE DISEASES 
OF THE VARIOUS ORGANS OF LOCOMOTION. 

DISEASES OF BONES. 

Periostitis — Ostitis — Osteomyelitis — Exostosis . . . 31 — 44 

DISEASES OF JOINTS. 

Arthritis — Synovitis — Hydrarthrosis — Hygroma 

Wounds of joints 44 — 69 

DISEASES OF MUSCLES. 

Myositis — Neurosis — Atrophy — Hyperthrophy 
Degeneration — Solutions of continuity — Para. 
sites 69 — 75 

DISEASES OF TENDONS. 

Inflammation or tenositis — Degeneration — Solution 

of continuity 75— 81 



112 CONTENTS. 

Pages. 
CHAPTER III. 

SPECIAL DISEASES OF THE EXTEEMITIES. 
SHOULDER JOINT. ANTERIOR LEG. 

Lesions of the skin and cellular tissue — Galls— Ulcers 

Acnea — Cold abscess 82 — 91 

Lesions of muscles, ligaments and bones — Sprains. . 92 — 104 

ELBOW JOINT. 

General injuries — Sprains— Arthritis — Capped elbow 

— Shoe boil 104—117 

KNEE JOINT. 

Carpitis — Broken knees — Hygroma of the knee 
Capped knee — Hydrarthrosis of the knee — Ten- 
dinous Synovitis — Tendinous Thoroughpin 
Speedy cut — Sprung knees 118 — 139 

CHAPTER IV. 

SPECIAL DISEASES OF THE EXTREMITIES (Continued), 
HIP JOINT. POSTERIOR LEG. 

Difficulties of diagnosis — Sprain — Morbus Coxarius 
Lesions of muscles, bones and ligaments — Treat- 
ment 140—148 

STIFLE JOINT. 

Sprains and lacerations of ligaments — Hydrarthrosis 
Hygroma — Cramps of the patellar muscle3 
Luxation of the patella — Rupture of flexor 
metatarsi 148—176 



CONTENTS. 113 

Pages. 
HOCK JOINT. 

Division of diseased process — Spavins — Hydrar- 
throsis — Blood spavin — Articular and tendinous 
thoroughpin — Hygroma of the hock — Capped 
hock — Curb — Springhalt 176—212 

CHAPTER V. 

DIGITAL KEGION. 

Division — Lesion of skin or of the cellular tissue 
Interfering — In j uries of bones — Splints — Ring- 
bones and side bones — Diseases of joints proper 
Hydrarthrosis and hygroma — Windgalls — Cystic 
Tumors — Injuries of tendons — Sprains of the 
fetlock — Knuckling — Breaking down of sesamoid 
ligaments 213—278 

CHAPTER VI. 

DISEASES OF THE FOOT. 

Reference to our translation of A. Zundel— Paronichia 
P. Ungualis — P. Cellulosa — P. Tendinosa 
P. Osseosa — P. Cartilaginosa : . . . . 279—290 

APPENDIX, 

Sprains of the loins — Embolisms — Embolisms of 
posterior aorta — Embolisms of the arteries of the 
extremities 291—309 



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